PSOH 'Fallout Boy'
by tigersilver
Summary: AU. PSOH Xover with Yami no Matsui/Descendants of Darkness. This fic features T-chan and Byakko, and is. Um, it's a love story, I think. With UST. And the slightest hint of furries. Here and there. In multiple chapters, too. With some Leon/D for flavour!
1. Chapter 1

PSOH Fallout Boy

(NB: To my dear 'Rival' followers, I've not forgotten it, truly. But I have to rewrite Chapter 3 entirely before I can go on. I read it over, you see, and realized it did not pass muster. Don't be afeared; t'will be posted soon. Thanks for waiting!)

**I**

"Why me?"

T-chan asked himself that all the time anymore, generally when Leon came hurtling through the Pet Shop door in his usual hurricane fashion. The detective's vivid presence only exacerbated the already over-wrought tenor of the Shop's current discombobulated state, Tet was sure (though perhaps he wouldn't have put it quite that way), sending an excited Christopher right up like a helium balloon. Chaos ensued.

… Not that it was a bad thing, necessarily - the detective's looking out for his little bro' like that – just annoying, 'cause Leon didn't exactly pay attention to little things like 'bedtime' or 'bath time' and he upset the kid's schedule more often than not. Hell, the kid was still settling in, for chrissake!

Tetsu asked himself that very same question, too, when Count D and Leon went out on their so-called 'dates' and he and Pon were stuck babysitting. Not that he _really_ minded it – Chris was a cute little bugger - but still, he had a life of his own. Kinda.

Sorta. Or he _had_, before that damned detective came along.

It pissed T-chan off, rather. Made him grumpier than he would've been normally. But he couldn't actually mind it too much 'cause the detective's little bro' really _was_ adorable – innocent as a lamb and yet worldly wise, exactly the type the Toutetsu would have desired as an entrée had he still been cruising the restaurant scene in search of untainted flesh. …and exactly the traits he shared with his big brother the detective, too, if Tetsu thought about it.

It was exactly that type of uncomfortable pondering that drove Tetsu out – to the bars, gay and straight, to the dance halls, to the late night restaurants and private clubs and youthful raves – wherever the hell he could get a taste of 'adult' company and get himself clear and away from the saccharine sweetness of the Pet Shop's resident 'couple'.

Which is how he ended up uptown most of the time, at a hole-in-the-wall bar frequented by folk such as he – city dwellers, haunting the heels of mankind, users of magics big and small.

T-chan felt comfortable there, more so than the flesh pots of the Strip. _Wyrd_ lived up to its name – a happenin', hopping, swinging refuge for all the ones who weren't just 'dressing up' - the wannabes who dyed their hair, donning fake nails or eyelashes or ringlets, decking their all too human bodies out in unfamiliar velvets and leathers and silks, in some odd attempt to appear more than the mere mortals they were.

No, the denizens of Wyrd really _were_ weird, as in 'unearthly', and most in a hip and cosmopolitan way Tetsu truly appreciated. Big guns from foreign shores were regular visitors, as well as small gods from the Islands, the local Tooth Fairies and Brownie-types, and also those powerful spirits whose names were known well to the Californians of Asian ancestry; every one of them crossing the 'big pond' as if it were nothing, ostensibly to check in on their transplanted subjects on American shores – all of them old friends, to Tetsu, or at least _certain_ of them, like Sohki and Rikugo and Byakko.

Souryuu would drop by, too, and Suzaku – every one of the old gang of troublemakers showed up at Wyrd at some point or another, including the sardonic and silent Touda. Sometimes some of the Shinigami – more usually Tsuzuki and Hisoka - came in for a drink on special occasions, dragging Chief Konoe in their wake. Even the elderly Puck would come, representative of the Eldest, emerging Pan-like from the forests of Sherwood, his wizened old-young face a merry sight, and accompanied always by the brash and handsome young Anasazi god, pipe in hand, his grey wolf at their heels. Wyrd was great big party, all the time, and absolutely the only place in town for people like T-chan to really let loose.

Tetsu found himself looking forward to his visits there more and more, what with every day that passed spent chasing the kid, cleaning up after the kid, feeding the kid, doing the kid's laundry. Hell, Christopher was great, _absolutely_, no doubt about it, but….was being a trumped-up babysitter all there was to his wild and magical life anymore? Clearly, the only remedy to this malaise was strong drink and raucous company… and Wyrd had plenty of both.

Tet sighed into his gimlet this chilly early autumn evening, for Ten-chan was sleeping again, and this meant he was stuck at the bar all by his lonesome till somebody he knew showed up – or till he got drunk enough to find a cute little Sidhe of like mind and screw her silly, banishing the loneliness of immortality to a mere pinprick.

Or, he could just go home and make sure all was well with Shop, make sure the kid was sleeping, and…..

_Sigh._

…Which was when Byakko strolled in, still half-furry from changing, his stripy tail lashing at the crowd. He found his way over to the mahogany bar after being social, slapping hands with his buds and kissing the women, his red eyes twinkling. Tetsu perked up immediately as soon as he saw the slim form of the Tiger – here was a friend at last – someone who would listen to his petty bitching.

"Hey!" Byakko slapped him on the shoulder in a teasing way and slid into the next seat over. "How's with you?"

Tet-chan turned and eyed his old friend, noticing that the tail was now hidden entirely by tight worn denims that clung to a fine ass. No wonder the women were murmuring with excitement, their avid eyes all fastened on his companion. Byakko grinned at him, unfazed, and then turned to order a beer.

"Yo." Tetsu smiled into his glass, discreetly, not willing to let Byakko know just how grateful he was for company. "Good. You?"

"Fine, just fine. So, hey, how's that kid you're babysitting?"

Byakko nodded his thanks to the bartender, sliding coin onto the table, passing easily over Tet's enquiry as to his state and condition. He much preferred to think about others, anyway, and Sohki had filled him in on the situation at Count D's Pet Shop a while back, so he knew enough to ask about Tetsu's new position as nanny. The Toutetsu looked a little tense.

"Don't talk to me about the kid!" Tetsu responded fiercely, shaking his horns in irritation. Right now, the last thing he wanted to think about was _home_. Home was where the Detective was, _and_ his little brother.

"Sorry, sorry," Byakko smiled sweetly, for he meant no harm – he never did, being a very genial man. He cheerfully searched his memory for the other things Tetsu always talked about when he was drinking, hoping to jolly the grouchy Toutetsu into a better mood.

"S'alright, then. How's your Detective? Does he still have no clue?"

Tet downed his gimlet in one gulp, slamming the glass down hard on the bar and impatiently motioning for another.

"Don't ask me about him, _either_!"

Byakko blinked his lovely eyes and rested his chin in his hand, considering. T-chan was apparently _not_ his normal, collected self. His goatish nature was definitely showing through.

"…'Kay. Sure, no _problemo_. I'm good with that….So, what _else_ is going on, Tet? Why are you out tonight? You stressed or something?"

T-chan grunted, and took up his refill, sipping it in a meditative manner.

"Yeah, I guess. The Shop's kinda difficult to deal with right now, what with the kid and his brother and all….so, what about you? What're you up to? Why're you on this side of the Pacific?"

"Ah, well….just in town for a day or two. The Boss cut me loose."

It was Byakko's turn to chug his drink, his eyes sliding away from Tetsu's, breaking the air of easy camaraderie. Tet frowned at that, briefly bothered – Byakko was usually the most straightforward, happy-go-lucky guy you could meet, not someone known for his brooding behaviour. But Tsuzuki always had that effect on his Shiki – pulling the Tiger's panties into a twist, making him act a little weird. Tetsu had just never thought much about it.

"Tsuzuki, you mean? The Emperor?"

"Yeah. He and Hisoka are off visiting his elder sister, so we Shiki aren't needed right now. I got a little vacation time coming, so…." Byakko shrugged and grinned at his nearly empty pint, obviously shooing away any unpleasant thoughts he might've been entertaining.

"...anyway, I ended up here at Wyrd. Thought I could use a good, stiff drink."

The Tiger's expression was all that it usually was when he faced his friend again – bright, charming, sweet – but somehow Tet had the impression that Byakko wasn't exactly as happy as he made out. Tetsu could relate – he wasn't all that happy with his lot in life either, what with Leon in the Shop more often than not and the two of them canoodling in the corners whenever they thought they weren't being watched.

Whatever. It was definitely time to drink. And maybe screw, to ease the latent ache in his loins. He needed a real _animal_ evening, as a matter of fact, and Byakko was the perfect guy to spend it with, at least till they both found their prospective partners for some one-night-stand satisfaction.

"Yeah, ok. Me, too. Buy you the next round, old buddy, to welcome you to town," Tetsu winked and leered, finishing off his third gimlet of the evening with a flourish. His head a nice spin to it now, and he could practically feel the tension draining from his shoulders.

The Tiger toasted him enthusiastically with the last of his lager and promptly swallowed it down, his long throat exposed as he tilted his shaggy head back to drain the dregs.

He smacked his lips and grinned at Tetsu's raised eyebrows. Byakko wasn't usually _that_ eager to tie one on.

"_Cool_. If you're the one buying, Tet, I want champagne – a whole magnum! Barkeep!"

"_Jeez_!" Tetsu muttered under his breath, but he wasn't really pissed. The Tiger was good company, drunk or sober, and sure as shit a lot more fun to be with than—

**II**

"H-how?" Tetsu croaked, staring in horrified amazement at the face on the next pillow. He'd come awake most reluctantly, his sated body wrapped around another's warmth, a surfeit of contentment filling his bones. The sight of the sleeping Tiger chased all that comforting warmth away in one great cold rush.

"_Shit!_"

Tetsu sat up abruptly, clutching the sheet to his naked chest, even more horrified at his growing embarrassment. It wasn't like he hadn't been in this situation before – waking up to see somebody he didn't know naked next to him – but not ever with a _friend-_

_How the hell_-?

"Hey," came a sleepy purr. "G'morning."

Byakko grinned up at him, blinking ruby red eyes awake, rolling onto his narrow back and stretching, just like a big cat. T-chan shuddered at the sight of his best bud's unashamed nakedness and turned away, biting his kiss-swollen lips in irritation.

_What in the world had they _done!_? _

…_.Well_, and T-chan blushed at this, ducking his head, _it was kinda obvious what they'd done – it was _why_ they'd done it that bothered him._ Fucking old friends on a whim wasn't his style – neither was staying out all night when he had the kid to care for. _What _had_ he been thinking?_

"You alright?" A hand rested tentatively on Tetsu's bare back and then stroked down, making Tetsu shudder, raising goosebumps on his bared flesh.

"_Don't touch me_!"

"Why not?" Byakko sat right up, entirely uncaring of his state of undress, and wrapped his arms around Tet's hunched shoulders. "What's the problem? You hungry?"

"_Damn it_! Get your hands off me, you asshole! Who the hell gave you permission to touch me?" T-chan shrieked, unhappily aware of the relaxed and satisfied state of his privates. He felt too damned good right now to be _this_ friggin' upset, but, hell, it was _Byakko_ in bed with him! _What had he been thinking_?

"You did, best buddy. Last night, remember?" Byakko yawned and grinned and shrugged, resting his chin on T-chan's shoulder. "_I_ remember."

'I did not!"

"Oh, yeah, you did, T-chan. I recall it quite clearly." The Tiger pressed a casual kiss on Tet's neck, still smiling, unconcerned by Tetsu's obvious distress. "Yup, you were _good_. Hell, _we_ were good, you know? Wanna do it again?"

"_Arrgh_! You _cretin_! What were you _thinking_?"

"…Actually, breakfast. I'm a little puckish, you know."

"No! I mean – last night! – _we_ – what the hell were we _doing!_?"

Byakko stared Tetsu straight in the eye, forcing T-chan's chin around so he could. He winked and nodded, knowingly, looking owlishly wise.

"Sex, my friend. S.E.X. Banging, humping, doing the _nasty_. You know, taking care of the urges? Can't think of a better way to put it, Tet."

"But_, why_?" Tetsu howled, drumming at the bed with shaking fists. "You're my best friend, Byakko! Why would I sleep with _you_?"

"Felt good, maybe? Felt _safe_?" Byakko's eyes twinkled at the word 'safe', as if he knew more about what was going on with T-chan than T-chan did. An errant and casual hand slid down T-chan's naked chest all the same, distracting him, coming to rest in the hollow between his thighs.

Byakko squeezed what he found there and T-chan gasped, open-mouthed and deeply shocked.

"I know _I_ enjoyed it, Tet. Wasn't a problem for _me_. So, why're _you_ so freaked out? Didn't you like cumming in me? Didn't you _like_ making me scream with pleasure?"

Byakko pouted, pushing his full lower lip out and making it quaver, an act that would've normally only irked his companion. Now, it was unbearably inviting, breathtakingly _sexy_, 'cause T-chan damned well _had_ enjoyed it and he knew it. Every single heart-stoppingly prurient minute of it.

"Uh—well—"

A kiss stopped Tetsu's protest, driving his ready anger away, soothing his transient fear of letting the kid down. It deepened and he sagged within Byakko's grasp, eyelids drooping, mouth open to the Tiger's plundering tongue.

"Didn't you?" Byakko murmured a moment later, taking a breath, tugging Tetsu back down to lie on the bed.

"_Didn't_ you?" he asked again, straddling T-chan's hips, his tail dancing down the length of the goat-boy's hairy legs. He sat down, hard, and T-chan plunged into him, willy-nilly, gasping at the pleasure gained, gurgling his acceptance of the god's honest truth.

Oh, yeah…_he had_. He'd fucking loved it, going crazy, reveling in Byakko's every little moan and cry. It was the best sex he'd ever had, last night – no wonder he'd been so weirded out, for it was his _friend_ he lusted after, his _ol' buddy_ who made him pant and growl and groan with desire. Not that Tetsu had a problem with casual sex – immortality kinda lent itself to casual sex, after all – but to do it with a _pal_ was fucking _strange_.

"Not strange at all, T-chan. It just means you trust me, that's all," Byakko smiled, dropping a quick kiss on the Toutetsu's frowning forehead. "That's why it's so _good_."

"_Yeah—_"


	2. Chapter 2

**PSOH 'Fallout Boy' Parts 3 & 4**

**III**

The holiday season was _crazy_ – there was no other word for it, at least in T-chan's mind. Having the kid to deal with brought a whole new raft of responsibilities – raking leaf piles to jump in, getting costumes ready for Hallowe'en, preparing the tofu-turkey and vegetarian feast for Thanksgiving. And, too, he had to come up with gifts for friggin' everybody, up to and including that damned detective, for Christmas and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa were right around the corner – the great Saturnalia that celebrated the upcoming birth of Spring.

"Why me?" he still asked, but he didn't really mean it, 'cause it was all kinda fun and exciting.

T-chan saw his friends at Wyrd now and again, not having nearly as much free time to get out as he had before the kid came. Wyrd was still the place to go, though, when the kid and the Count and the Detective were driving him crazy.

He saw Byakko, too, though not so much at Wyrd. The Tiger was in town way more often these days, evidently seeking relaxation and good times, since the Holes had been plugged and the Imaginary Kingdom was safe again. Tsuzuki seemed to be giving his Creatures a hell of a lot of time off, Tetsu thought, and kinda wished the Count would do the same sometimes, 'cause _he_, at least, had way too much to do.

But it was nice to be needed, and it was nice to have a regular fuck-buddy, and life wasn't too bad, all around. And it was good it was the Tiger, who he'd known for so long, and trusted. Pity it had taken him so damn many years to realize how friggin' _sexy_ Byakko was, what with that spiky mane and those sakura-petal tinted eyes.

And it was good _now_, 'cause they saw each other a lot, even if Tetsu didn't get out to the bars. Byakko would come to the Shop instead; make much of the kid, tease the detective, suck up to the Count and generally hang around, getting the way, so Tetsu didn't feel lonely at all. And they fucked like monkeys these days, totally comfortable and in tune with each other's bodies, intent on exploring all the ways they could drive each other crazy and wring that last gasp of exquisite pleasure from each other's lips.

It was _good_, better than good, and Tetsu came to be cautiously happy as autumn wore on, though he never breathed a word about it to Byakko or anyone else, for that matter. He just smiled more often - and not just at Chris or Ten-chan, but the whole world.

There was only one thing that got his goat - the way Byakko treated Leon. The shock-headed, red-eyed imp would turn Tiger all the sudden and then shrink down to cute little Cub, easing himself onto the Detective's lap and purring so hard Leon's legs would tremble. He'd lick the Detective's face with that rough tongue of his – the one he used so well between his best bud's thighs! – and practically force the bemused detective to stroke him softly, just like a big kitty coaxing attention from his Master. He'd roll onto his stripy back and get Leon to rub his belly, trembling with satisfaction at the caress, his paws every which way, his tail twitching.

It pissed off Tetsu; it irked the Count. Both of them would glare across the Parlor whenever Byakko pulled his 'kitty' trick and send silent waves of disapproval in the Tiger's direction. But that didn't stop the Tiger and it didn't stop Leon, who openly admitted the Siberian was his favorite new Pet.

Chris, too, adored Byakko, just like his Big Bro', climbing all over the Guardian of the West when he was in large form, tugging his silky ears in a constant invitation to play. They'd wrestle on the floor, small boy and giant white Tiger, kidding around and laughing their silly heads off, and then both the Count and T-chan would smile and hide their chuckles, 'cause it was clear that Christopher's innocent adoration was entirely returned by his feline friend.

_Jealousy sucked_, T-chan thought, generally just after Byakko did his "Hello Kitty' schtick with Leon, and then wondered why it was that he felt that way. It wasn't as if he and Byakko were anything more than friends – friends with benefits, true – so why did the Tiger's pursuit of the tall, blonde detective bother him so much?

And why did Leon's acceptance of all that furry affection bother him less? He used to blow a gasket when Leon and the Count got too friendly; why didn't he mind that so much anymore?

It was a puzzle, but Tetsu's questions went unanswered, even by himself. The Shop was busy, busy, and so was he.

Christmas passed, with the surprise visit from the kid's aunt and uncle gone and over with. January set in, chilly and miserable, and Byakko came to Wyrd and the Shop less often, claiming the pressures of work.

"Hey," he'd said casually, near the end of the month, when they were alone in T-chan's suite after another noisy family dinner.

"Hey, Tet, I've got some stuff coming up. The Boss needs me to check out some weird shit going down in Meifu, so I won't be around as much as I've been. You don't mind, do you?"

T-chan froze in place, his damp towel still covering his shaggy head, and nodded his understanding, after a long, pregnant pause.

He'd been expecting it, somehow. Byakko wasn't known for the length of his romantic relationships; the Tiger had only ever yearned for one man – one entirely unavailable man - and Tetsu had never been that man. It wasn't as if he hadn't known the rules of this engagement from day one.

That was that, then. They'd meet like this a few more times and then it really would be over, just like that, and their relationship would snap back into its usual shape – just _good buddies_ again, like always.

T-chan used the towel to furiously scrub the last of the moisture from his face and hair and then whipped it off his head, grinning like a loon as he turned to face his old friend, naked and waiting on his bed.

"Hey, no prob. Better make the most of it, then, right? You ready for me yet, you biatch?"

The Guardian of the West giggled at the stupid joke and beckoned his old friend closer, patting the mattress beside him.

"Oh, _yeah_. Come on over here and _nail me_, you fiend – I can take you!"

**IV.i**

Spring was never coming; T-chan was convinced. It would be chilly and cloudy and grey forever, till he died of boredom. Chris was in kindergarten now, desperately making up for lost time, and the Count was the one who helped him with his ABC's and his 2 + 2's, not Tetsu. Leon was undercover, _again_, and would be for a while yet to come, so there was no fun to be had teasing _him_.

Even Ten-chan was busy, occupied with his little _kitsune_ lover, and Pon-chan had just discovered some new author and had declared she was bound and determined to read every single thing Nora Roberts had ever written. It would take her a while, since the author was prolific, and Tetsu knew from experience she'd be good for absolutely nothing till she was done.

_No fun._ That about described his life. Boring, flat, depressing, lonely. Frustrating, too, 'cause it had been months since he'd last seen Byakko and try as he might, he couldn't get it up for anyone else. All the lovelies in Wyrd had given him a hand with that, all to no avail. It had gotten to the point where he only went to the bar to _drink_, gods forbid.

"Hey," said a familiar voice at his shoulder. Tetsu automatically slid over, making space, quelling the unbidden rise of excitement within him, all without thinking too hard about it. They'd been friends for a long time, he and the Tiger.

"How's by you, Tet?" The Tiger ordered a mimosa this time and T-chan hastily thrust his money forward, picking up the tab without a word.

"Thanks, bud. How're you doing? Been busy?"

"Yeah," T-chan lied, his eyes on his glass. He didn't dare look over yet, not till he had another whiskey in his gut. The hard stuff was more effective, he'd found, when one didn't want to think too much about stuff. Gave him courage, too, something he sorely needed right about now.

The day he'd secretly dreaded had finally arrived: his old friend was back in town.

"How're you? Boss driving you crazy still?" Tetsu kept his voice from cracking by sheer will and only caught Byakko's shrug out of the corner of one eye.

"Yeah, you could say that. How's the kid?"

"In school. He's six, almost seven, you know – not a kid anymore. Another," T-chan growled to the hovering bartender, downing his liquor in one gulp. He really didn't want to think too much about _how_ the Shinigami Tsuzuki drove Byakko crazy; it wasn't any of his business, after all. Still, it would've been better all around if Byakko stayed on his side of the Pacific for a while longer, 'cause then Tet wouldn't expect anything…much.

"And for him."

"Thanks again, pal." Byakko poured the champagne down his throat without regard to the vintage, closing his eyes at the end of it. He swiped a hand across his wet lips before he turned to Tetsu again, wiping the bubbly residue away. Tetsu jerked on his stool involuntarily, reacting.

"And my favorite detective? Is he doing alright?" Teasing red eyes focused fully on Tet and Tetsu made sure to keep his own firmly fixed on the brass rail and the sticky floorboards beneath it. He had no business hoping, anyway. It was over, wasn't it? Had been over….

"Yeah, yeah, he's fine. I'll tell him you asked after him, alright?" It was T-chan's turn to shrug, and since he definitely wasn't looking, he missed the gleam in the Tiger's narrowed eyes.

"Join me? My treat this time," Byakko offered, raising his glass again. The barkeep instantly produced two more glasses, full to the brim, and Byakko shoved one in T-chan's direction.

"Y-yeah, I guess. I gotta get home, though—"

"Sure, sure. Drink with me first – I haven't had a day off in months!"

"—the kid—"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You're _seriously_ going to abandon your best friend when he's just _finally_ gotten a chance to kick back, first time in months? _Come on_, T-chan. It's not like the Count's not there, you know. Kid'll be fine. You can relax a little."

"Yeah, I k-know, but—_it's late_ and—"

Byakko batted eyelashes a mile long, smirking. He ran a deprecating hand through the shock of his hair for emphasis.

"Or maybe you just don't love me anymore?"

Byakko's blonde-white brows climbed high on his mischievous face and he jabbed an accusing finger in Tetsu's direction.

"You don't want to spend time with me anymore?"

"N-no! That's not _it_, asshole! I just gotta—"

"-leave your buddy behind. _Abandon_ him in his time of need. _Ignore_ his loneliness. Right?"

"_Hell_. Fine, already," Tetsu spat through gritted teeth. "_Sure_, I'll drink. I'll drink you right under the fucking table, you lightweight! Just don't you _dare_ say I don't give a d-damn about you!"

Byakko chortled at his best friend's angry face, raising his glass higher, encouraging the Toutetsu to pour more and more of the hard stuff down the hatch, till his buddy was gasping and reeling on his barstool, seriously 'whiskyfied.'

It didn't take long at all, since T-chan had such a good start already.

"Come on, c'mon. Let'ssh go," the Tiger urged finally, just shy of an hour later, impatiently helping the sodden Tetsu climb groggily to his feet.

The barkeep hailed a taxi for them at the Tiger's quiet command. In minutes, Byakko was carefully pouring his horned pal into the back seat, his own head miraculously unclouded again once they were shed of the bar. T-chan didn't notice a damned thing, fully preoccupied with being tremendously tanked.

"The Park Avenue, please," Byakko told the taxi driver, naming one of the more expensive five-star hotels in L.A. Tetsu didn't hear him, snoring in corner of the taxi, lulled into unconsciousness by alcohol and motion. He didn't fully open his bleary, red-veined eyes till Byakko tugged him off the elevator at the 13th floor and propped him up against the wall for the brief moment that he slid his keycard through the strip lock on his suite door.

"Wha-? Where are we?" T-chan stumbled into the main sitting room, knees wobbly as hell, and only by chance finding a soft couch to sink into.

"Byakko?"

The Tiger shrugged nonchalantly at the puzzlement on his friend's flushed face, locking the door behind him and slinging his wallet and key card onto the foyer table. He sauntered forward, all his customary playfulness dimmed by an intensity of purpose.

"My place."

Byakko's voice was as cool and firm as a refrigerated cucumber, but once again Tetsu managed to miss the fiery glint in the Tiger's ruby eyes, being too busy with keeping himself relatively upright on the cushy sofa. It was hard on a body, even a magical one, consuming that much whiskey in that short a time. It was hard to see _him_ again, even if he knew the day was coming. Tet straightened his slumping shoulders at the thought, gearing up for a friendly battle.

"You see, you're staying the night, _pal,_" the Tiger declared, the twitchy tip of his ever-active tail a subtle sign that he, for one, wasn't quite as cool as he looked.

"B-but, I gotta go home!" Tetsu stuttered, taken aback by the fierceness reflected in his buddy's eyes. Byakko was suddenly _right there_, looming, his Oxford shirt already discarded, his nimble hands working methodically down the buttons of the worn-out Levi's that clung like a second skin to his wiry frame.

The Tiger grinned, ferociously.

"Hey! _Hey!_ You're not gonna-!" T-chan pressed himself back against the couch, getting as far from temptation as he could, and wearily focusing wary eyes on his ex-lover's determined face. "We c-can't!"

"And why not?" Byakko smiled airily and shimmied out of his jeans, toeing off his sneakers on the way. He moved all that much closer, long-fingered hands reaching for the top of Tetsu's black suede dress shirt.

"You have a problem with that?"

Tetsu shook his shaggy head in confusion, horns swinging back and forth. _Problem?_ No, but…well—

"N-no—"

"You don't want me anymore?"

Byakko pounced, having already crammed himself between T-chan's open legs by then. He had his buddy's shirt completely unbuttoned and was reaching for T-chan's buckle with one firm hand, the other ruffling through the Toutetsu's curly hair. Scared shitless, Tetsu clenched scraggly claws on the down-stuffed pillows in a heroic effort not to lean forward and pull his Tiger toward him, engulf him in a close embrace. Byakko smelled so _good_, like cake and soap and bubbly. It had been so _long_ and he was already throbbing with readiness – hell, he'd been half-hard since Byakko had slid onto the bar stool next to him, back at Wyrd.

_But_….

It wasn't his _place_, not anymore. Not his _righ_t, not since Byakko had blown him off months ago. Hell, he was sick to death of this endless 'blow hot-blow cold'. He damned well wasn't gonna fall for this on-again-off-again shit anymore—

"No! _Yes_! _You_ were the one who left, damn your eyes! Don't you _dare_—"

"Hardly. I had to work, Tet. I told you that." Byakko calmly removed the Toutetsu's belt, the leather hissing sensuously as it slid through the loops of T-chan's skintight black jeans. "You said you understood."

"_Work?_! Like hell, Byakko! You blew me off, asshole, so don't think you can just start with me again!"

"I did_ not_ 'blow you off', Tetsu. I _said_ I had to work. You know, do my job? Earn my keep? What's wrong with that, Tet?" The Tiger pressed forward, his face right up to T-chan's, wicked hands climbing the Toutetsu's naked chest, tweaking berry-brown nipples in passing.

"No!"

T-chan winced at the thrill and whipped his head to one side, evading the mouth perilously close to his own.

"Stop that!"

"You know," Byakko said, his eyes narrowing with suspicion, "the way you're acting, I'm thinking _you're_ the one blowing _me_ off, old buddy, old pal. Pffht! Like _that'll _ever work! I know all your weaknesses!"

Byakko guffawed, glaring half-heartedly at Tet's stunned face, as though he couldn't make up his mind whether he was pissed or amused. He turned his attention back to Tetsu's lap and brushed a questing hand over the bulge in Tet's crotch, eying the inevitable reaction with interest.

"Hah! You lie like a rug, my friend. I _know_ you want me."

Tetsu only groaned, eyes closing against the sight of Byakko licking his lips in anticipation. Things were moving too fast for him to keep up. He gave up on arguing for the moment and tried to blindly fend off the warm fingers dragging down his zipper, wrapping around the rising erection he could do nothing to control.

"_Unnh_! Stop it, you two-timer! Get your friggin' claws off me!"

"Two-timer?" The bleach blonde brows were rising in surprise again, but his spiky hair obscured them, for Byakko was busy taking his lover into his mouth.

"What'd'ya mean?" he mumbled.

"_Argh!_ Ah, damn you! Don't _do_ that!"

"Why do you call me a 'two-timer,' Tet? When did I ever cheat on you?" The Tiger withdrew for a brief moment, a frown creasing his normally cheerful face. His hands were still active, though, tugging Tetsu's jeans inexorably down over his clenched butt.

Tetsu stared at him, aghast. What bullshit was this? Hadn't he been 'second' all along? Or third or fourth or whatever? Never _first,_ though. The Shinigami Tsuzuki was first – and probably _only_ – in his most favored Shikigami's heart. Tetsu was just a poor runner-up, a good fuck-buddy and an old friend. In that order, natch. Nothing more.

"_W-why!_?" he choked, nearly speechless. _Why me?_ Surely, it was as plain as the horns on his own screwed-up head - Byakko's love for his unattainable Boss. "What d'you mean, '_why_'?, you ass!"

"Yeah, '_why?_' I don't get it, pal. You're not making sense." Byakko calmly continued the process of removing his best buddy's pants, a contemplative air settling onto his usually happy-go-lucky features.

"No! I mean, _you're_ the one who's not making sense here, Byakko! Why're you here with _me_ when you've got _him_? Well, not that you've_ got_ him, but you know what I _mean_."

"No, I'm afraid I _don't_, T-chan. What exactly are you saying here?"

The Tiger looked up from his crouch between Tetsu's now naked knees, obviously expecting a coherent explanation and acting as though he had absolutely no idea _what_, in T-chan's estimation, was as clear as the nose on his face. Tetsu would have staggered had he been standing, the shock was so great.

_Everyone_ knew how Byakko felt for his Boss, _everyone_! It was the talk of Wyrd, the well-known-but-never-mentioned 'fact' that Byakko the Shikigami yearned for his Master! Anyone who was _anyone_ was well-informed about the Tiger's hopeless and unrequited love affair, and_ hell_, Tetsu himself had known it even longer, from way back, well before Wyrd - back when he and Byakko first met.

He remembered it quite clearly, as though it were just yesterday. He'd just been passing through Meifu all those years ago, freshly freed from the wilds of Tibet, and the Hakushaku had cordially invited him to tea, to view the sakura of which he was justifiably proud. Byakko had been invited, too, in attendance on his Shinigami boss, and they'd started chatting, one magical creature to another, about life and work and the difficulties of humans and the intangibilities of love and beauty. They had covered rather a lot of ground in a short space, Tetsu reflected, and he'd instinctively liked his just-introduced companion.

"You know," the Tiger had sighed, transparently anguished, his playful countenance downcast, "sometimes love is just too hard, Toutetsu. Sometimes, you just can't have what you want, no matter how long you've yearned for it."

It had surprised the Toutetsu, the intensity of Byakko's tone, for he'd already realized the Tiger was an ephemeral creature, one who didn't take life too seriously at all, one who was unfailingly in a good humor.

But the Tiger's ruby red eyes had been fixed unswervingly on the fine profile of his Boss the entire time, soft with concern as Tsuzuki fended off the Count's amorous badinage.

T-chan had never said a thing, of course. He wasn't so unfeeling that he would want to bring up someone else's unfortunate love affair, but he _knew_. He knew, even last autumn, when he'd stupidly put aside that knowledge and gone with the flow.

"H-how can you even say that, Byakko?" demanded the T-chan of here-and-now, reeling anew. "_You're_ the one who's so stuck on him you can't even _look_ at anybody else!"

"Wait just a sec here, T-chan. Let me get this straight, ok? You think I _love_ him?"

"Well, duh! Of course that's what I'm saying! You _do, _don't you?"

Byakko smiled – the sweet, pure smile of the gentle-hearted – and laughed his spiky head off, rolling on the floor in merriment, his tail curling and twisting as he giggled helplessly on the carpet. T-chan huffed in speechless annoyance, his own shaggy do standing on end, his face flushed red as a beet.

"Y-you know," Byakko gasped when he could speak again, "you _know_, Tet, _I_ don't bitch about it when you spend hours sewing patches on the k-kid's pants!"

"_What!_"

"And-and-_and_… _I _don't complain when you're too busy to see me 'cause you're taking him clothes shopping or to the dentist, you k-know that?" continued the Tiger, still gasping with merriment, though he'd hauled himself off the floor again and now rested his mussy mane on T-chan's knee.

"W-what are you talking about?" exclaimed a mystified Toutetsu, shaking his head in disbelief.

_What?_ What was going on? Shouldn't Byakko be confirming his love for Tsuzuki right now? Shouldn't he be politely blowing Tetsu off one last time? Huh?

"N-nope, and never _once_ have I accused you of being head-over-heels for our favorite detective, have I?" Byakko continued, raising his head to pin Tetsu with a gaze as sharp as a scalpel, the lingering laughter in his voice finally dissipated. "Although I could _certainly_ make a convincing case for that, you know, given the way you watch him."

"W-what?" T-chan blushed a ripe raspberry shade, for Byakko's pointed accusation sliced deep. The Tiger was showing his teeth now, in a toothy, rueful grin. He shook his blond-white head at Tetsu's embarrassed face, the habitual warmth returning to his glowing eyes, his lips curling ruefully.

"And yet _you_ assume all sorts of things, my dear one, all of them as wrong as wrong could be, and feel not the slightest bit of remorse about it!"

Byakko rose to his knees, grimly determined, and leaned his face dangerously close to Tetsu's gaping one.

"I don't think I like that, Tet. You're not being honest."

"H-huh? Everybody—"

"Well, then. If that's what you want to hear. _Of course_ I love Tsuzuki! He's the dearest, most wonderful guy in the entire multiverse! I can't even _begin_ to tell you how _much_ I adore that man, _really_, taken or not. He's cute and sweet and hotter than hellfire! I'm just head-over-heels, Tet."

T-chan started nodding, his eyes glazed, feeling oddly relieved, though his chest pained him. It was only the truth, after all. Better to have it out in the open so they knew where they stood.

The Tiger's eyes narrowed again, menacing. The tip of his tail twitched.

"But, you know, Tet, _everybody_ was still wrong. There's absolutely nothing going on between my Boss and me. Nada, zip, zilch. _I_ should know, right? – since I'm the one most closely involved here. So, why didn't you just ask _me _if you were so interested? I would have told you-"

"A-ask?" Tetsu faltered, the rubberband beneath his ribcage expanding unreasonably, twanging like a tuning fork, and then shrinking again in cold realization.

What was there to ask? It had been a foregone conclusion all this time. And Byakko _just said-_

The Tiger placed his palms on Tetsu's cheeks, gently drawing his lover's confused face closer and closer, till he could plant an affectionate peck on Tet's nose.

"Ask," he confirmed, nodding imperceptibly. "Anything you want. Anything at all. In fact, my pet, why don't you do that right now, _hmm_? You may as well get it over with and I promise to answer most truthfully. Shikigami's honor."

T-chan closed his eyes again, abruptly. He shook his head back and forth, negating the offer - without much force, but meaning it.

"No." Absolutely not, no, _never_. Why the hell should he set himself up for disappointment again? The Tiger was playing him. The Tiger played everyone he ever fucked – and he didn't even _mean_ to. He was a great guy, Byakko, a great _friend_, the best Tet ever had, but he just didn't _realize_ what he did to people.

"Why not?" Byakko purred, his lips a breath away from his ex-lover's.

Tetsu thinned his mouth into a straight, tight line and frowned, crinkling his brow into worry lines, eyes still shut tight.

"Don't want to know, alright?" he growled. "It's not like I _care_ who you're in love with, understand? You can do whatever you want – _I _won't stop you. You're just my best f-friend, ok? Sometimes we screw – sometimes we don't. And that's more than good enough for me, you _ass_. I'm not looking for anything else – _I don't need it_."

Byakko grinned at his obstinate, willfully blind fuck-buddy, and ran his long pink tongue down the side of Tet's flushed face.

"Really?" The laughter was back in the Tiger's voice and Tetsu sagged with relief, unaware that he was being watched like a hawk. "'Anything else?'"

He hesitantly raised his lashes, only to find glowing rubies drilling into his own brown orbs.

"That's _really _the way you feel, Tetsu?" Byakko prompted, red eyes alight with laughter…and something else. T-chan gulped, for he couldn't look away this time, no matter how much he wished to.

"Y-yeah," T-chan's voice slid and cracked on the lie, unable to hold itself together.

A warmth mouth covered the bitter taste of his untruth immediately, devouring it, and the slighter form of the Tiger climbed upon him, settling into Tetsu's naked lap as if he were staying there for the duration. Tet's body shuddered into ardent life, reacting to the silky slide of a tail up his trembling legs, the brush of fingers down his bared back.

"_Yeah,_" he groaned, answering an entirely different question. His horny body didn't seem to give a shit if his recalcitrant heart was in trouble.

"I'm not so sure about that, Tet. You talk a good game, but you ain't following through," grinned the irrepressible Byakko, positioning himself just right. Tetsu couldn't stop the thrust of his loins beneath the weight of the Tiger, couldn't prevent his fingers from grasping at the smooth planes of Byakko's back, his narrow hips, forcing them down. He surged upward, equally inevitably, and felt the grip of smooth walls around him, urging him on.

"Ah! Idio-!"

"Mnnn. _Good_. Harder, Tet," begged the Tiger, wrapping his legs around T-chan's waist, pressing himself into his lover's embrace.

"Ah –_oh_!" gasped the Toutetsu, the sweet liquor of lust sloshing into his brain.

"I think I'll have to ask your body next time, best buddy, 'cause it won't lie like a rug, will it? Not like this stupid mouth." Warm lips presented him with a smiling, closed-mouth kiss. Tetsu failed entirely at pulling away, drunk on sensation.

"_Nnn…_"

_Oh! _

Liquid heat washed through the Toutetsu, a manic fever in his veins. He mated his hungry mouth to his lover's, all thoughts of holding back ripped clean from his hormone-filled head.

_Oh_. Oh…_yeah_.

Tiny ice-cold droplets of reason hit T-chan's skin like hail, trickling nastily down his arching spine and then sizzling off immediately.

_This wasn't real_, T-chan's rational side told him faintly, a pale ghost beside the red-hot demon of his raging libido.

_This was only make-believe_.

Yeah, sure, and he'd rather be the Tiger's _friend_ than his lover – he'd far prefer to keep Byakko forever near him, tied firmly with the bonds of friendship, than risk losing him to the next chippy that came along, right?

…..So what was he _doing_, giving in like some poor pussywhipped sop who didn't know any better?

And why the hell did it have to _ache_ like this? His straining heart pinched him, worse than it ever had when he watched Count D and Leon together, worse than it had when Ten fell back in love with his newly-rediscovered boy-toy. But _still_ he desired the Tiger, driving forcefully into Byakko's writhing body, starved and hungry for the friction of skin on skin. _Still_, his arms inevitably reached to embrace that resilient warmth, his privates huge and hard, rising like an inferno from his trembling loins.

T-chan moaned his pleasure, for this was all so exquisitely _good_, and rationality could go pound sand for once.

"So, hey, what d'you know about love, Tet?" It was the barest giggling whisper, the brush of a tongue in his ear. "Tell me."

"_Huh!_"


	3. Chapter 3

**PSOH 'Fallout Boy' 5 & 6**

**V**

Perfect day to go the beach. That's what Leon said, and dragged them all along: the Count and the kid, Tet and Pon and half the Shop.

And Byakko, too, 'cause he was hanging around, as usual.

The summer had been long…and _hot_. Hot in every way that counted; so fucking hot that Tetsu's head hadn't stopped spinning since May.

Not that he minded. Or he didn't think he did – though, _sometimes_ – but steamy sex dissipated his unspoken questions as cleanly as it did his secret fears. He _couldn't_ think about it, so he _wouldn'_t think about it, no matter what head games Byakko was playing now.

It was all good, he told himself, and kept his feelings locked deep within his hairy chest. But there was trouble in paradise. Count D and Leon were at odds, for one; Byakko was a pain the ass, for another. And Tetsu was losing weight, losing substantiality, the edges of his body fuzzy and unclear, his heart a whirlwind of uncertainty.

Or so he _felt_, though he was just as solid as he'd ever been. The kid proved that, by bouncing on his belly whenever he got a chance.

The expedition to the beach was Leon's way of making up to the Count, who had accused him of being too wrapped up in his job to spend 'quality time' with his little bro'. Byakko came along 'cause he liked a good time and watching the two of them twitter at each other promised to be amusing.

T-chan and the Count packed a massive picnic lunch and Leon took care of the beach chairs and umbrellas and the enormous amount of apparatus that seemed necessary for taking a seven-year-old to the beach for the day – inflatable toys and sunscreen, extra towels and goggles and 'swimmies' for the kid who swam like a fish.

"Nice," the detective said, when the Count handed him a cold beer from one of their two coolers. "Thanks, Pon-chan," he smiled when she presented him the Sunday paper, still intact. "Yeah, that's great, Chris!" he yelled in encouragement when his little brother showed off his prowess with the Styrofoam surfboard, splashing in the shallows with Tet and the Tiger.

The Count was pacified, his ire soothed by the sight of a relaxed detective building sandcastles with his little brother after lunch. He smiled as he napped, the sun warming the yards of cloth wrapped around his slim body. Tetsu and Byakko got out the real surfboards and took to the waves, big boys at play.

"Betcha can't do this, Tet!" Byakko dared, already catching the first of the late afternoon swells, nimble as a cat atop his waxed board. T-chan ripped his eyes away from the vision of manly splendor in a Speedo and climbed aboard his own surfboard, paddling to catch up.

"Bet I can!" he yelled and promptly went ascupper when the current pulled him out.

"Tet!" shrieked the Tiger and dove after him, hauling the Toutetsu's dazed body back up the surface, where he coughed and spluttered in shame and embarrassment.

"Take it easy, bud. This ain't no contest," Byakko told him, his hands doing naughty things under the water.

"Um," Tet gasped and sank under the waves with his lover, lips locked, sharing oxygen. They fumbled into the shallows and he rose for air at the very last moment, the coolness of the ocean doing nothing to ease his erection, mercifully hidden from those watchers on the beach.

"_Later_," the Tiger purred in his reddened ear, his voice a promise for all sorts of sexual acrobatics when they were safely alone. Tetsu blushed red as a cranberry and had to swim for his board to hide his face.

"Boys!" the Count called and they headed in, Tetsu keeping his board firmly in front of his bulging suit, his face still tinged with a blush.

They walked the pier after they loaded up Leon's old banger with all the beach paraphernalia, and Count D allowed the detective to buy his little brother cotton candy, even though it would ruin his dinner. He didn't say 'no' to the stick of fluffy blue spun sugar, either, when the detective offered him one of his own.

Tetsu and Byakko played arcade games, begging quarters off the detective, who demonstrated some skill of his own with the rickety old pinball machine. The Count ruled Ms. Pacman, raking up fruit at levels Leon had never seen before, smiling in cool triumph when he defeated the previous champ and entered his initial at the top of the list.

Chris was champion at skeeball, his little fingers unerring as he dropped balls just so into the '100' and '500' slots every time. Pon-chan showed off her prowess on the dance machine, her feet faster than lightning in flower-bedecked sandals, her girly bikini wrap flaring and whirling at the hem.

Among them, they earned enough pink tickets to purchase the largest stuffed animal the counter boasted of – a giant panda, nearly as tall as the detective and heavy enough to need two people to carry it. A host of other smaller stuffed creatures came with it, including a cheesy heart-shaped musical pillow that the Tiger claimed for his own.

It was gaudy and red, in tatty velvet, straight out of a dollar store, and Tetsu was horrified to find it on his bed after dinner. He snatched it off the covers, yelling.

"What's this?" he roared and the Tiger had to shush him, for though the walls were very thick, they were not entirely soundproof.

"A token of my affection, Tet. You like?"

"Ass! Why the hell would I want _this_?"

"A memento, Tetsu. You know, so you think of me when I'm gone?"

"…Gone?" Tet stopped waving the pillow in the air and went still, hoarfrost settling onto his heated skin.

"Not yet, silly!" laughed the Tiger, closing in. He smiled and swiped the pillow from Tetsu's limp fist, tossing it casually onto the bed.

"Later, man. _Whenever_. Like when I'm out of vacation time or something."

"Oh."

"That bother you, Tet?" came the question, sharp as a fillet knife.

"…Why would it, Byakko? It's not like you don't come and go whenever you please _anyway_, taking advantage of me all the time," T-chan growled, turning away. "You're a pain in my ass, you know."

"Oh, really? Then you don't object to this….and this…and this?" The Guardian of the West pressed kisses on Tetsu's nape, his shoulder, his earlobe.

There was a pause while T-chan fought his inner demons and then he pulled away, his features sharp, mouth thinned in anger. He wrapped his arms around his middle and tapped his foot, his ire apparent.

"You can _stop_ now, asshole. I already know you're fucking _charming_, ok? I don't need some cheap toy as a reminder."

"No?" An undefined emotion rippled across the Tiger's face and was gone, leaving only a nasty glitter in his red eyes. He laid his long-fingered hands on T-chan's shoulders and tugged him closer, the Toutetsu resisting for a bare second and then allowing the caress. "You sure about that, Tet?"

T-chan raised his chin, staring the Tiger down. Byakko only laughed and swarmed closer, so that Tet could feel the warmth from his skin.

"Then consider it a 'freebie', my love – a misguided attempt at charming you a little more. I'll try again, _hmm_? Some other time…." He wrapped his ardent body around the Toutetsu's, clinging, red eyes drooping with salacious intent, and breathed the last three words in T-chan's ear, sending an unwanted thrill right up T-chan's rigid spine.

"Ah!"

"Do me, baby," the Tiger purred, running his short pointy nails down Tet's naked chest. "Make me feel it."

Tetsu scrambled to get a hold of the slippery Tiger, his skin aflame, his fingers grasping, and found the pouting mouth by sheer instinct, groaning his satisfaction as their tongues entwined. Byakko moaned, too, when a hot palm caressed his ass.

They fell and wrestled onto the bed, wordless but for gasps and little sounds, the slap of flesh on flesh, the susurration of two hearts pounding. Tetsu fought to clear his head of the thought of Byakko leaving and the Tiger smiled sweetly and took his lover in, till they were joined at mouth and hips, inseparable.

But of course, by the sound of the first birdsong the next morning, the hot lick of the first sunbeam across the tired Toutetsu's face, Byakko was long gone, the hush of his passing not even a memory in the dawn.

**VI**

The heart-shaped pillow had the pride of place on T-chan's bed. September settled in, the golden month, and Tet settled in as well, waiting, for he had a better idea of how things worked now. It wasn't what he wanted, exactly, but then he'd only recently figured out what he wanted, so he didn't expect a hell of a lot.

It certainly didn't warrant crying or brooding, he was sure, and so he did none of those things, and kept his heart steady in his chest, expectant. They'd had a good run, he and the Tiger, and it wasn't over yet by any means. Or so his heart-shaped memento told him.

The kid went back to school and Count D and the detective sorted things out, making peace with each other. Pon-chan decided to enroll in university on-line and Ten-chan and his lover went off on a cruise in the China Sea. Norman did a short stint at Ringling Bros. and Pierre was introduced to a female seal, one who had recently retired from that same circus.

All was well with world, despite the lack of Tiger. It was perhaps a little less exciting than summer had been, but it was also comforting for a creature who had learned to thrive on domestic bliss. T-chan was grateful for a chance to put himself back together without the constant tug and pull of attraction tangling his heartstrings into tatters. He cooked and sewed to his heart's content, and even took a stab at quilting, finding pleasure in the way the little squares fit together.

Byakko blew in at the beginning of October, harried and harassed, complaining heartily about the King of Hell and his hateful tricks. He was just as affectionate as ever and Tet relaxed again, the tension he'd been carrying about with him inexplicably eased.

It was only on weekends, though, and then not always. The Guardian of the West was run off his feet, it seemed, countering the parries and feints of a greater enemy.

Tet got to hear about Tsuzuki entirely too often, for the Emperor had taken a stance. Roused from his sad-eyed melancholy, fearful of Hell's machinations against the inhabitants of the Invisible Kingdom, he had called all Shikigami to arms.

It was life in war-time and Tetsu was stuck at home, doing his job, playing nanny. He regretted it bitterly, for he would have fought fiercely at his lover's side - but there was no place for him in Meifu.

"T-chan," the Count said one rain-swept autumn evening, his final cup of tea cradled in his hands, his meditative eyes on the fireplace.

"T-chan, is all well with your friend?"

"What?" Tet answered shortly, pausing in the midst of gathering the dirty teacups from the table. He kept his eyes down and hoped the firelight hid the color on his face, for his 'friend' was fast asleep on his bed, sprawled out large in Tiger form, and he was only still in the Parlor 'cause he was restless.

"Well, perhaps you didn't notice, but there are scars on his flanks, fresh ones. They weren't there a week ago, T-chan."

T-chan had indeed noticed and it made him sick, 'cause his lover was in danger and it seemed he could do nothing to stop it. His hand tightened on the handle of a cup instead, nearly snapping it right off.

"I fear the battle for Meifu may be too much for the Emperor, T-chan," continued the Count, his voice a pleasant sing-song, as though he were considering a scenario only he could see. "He is too kind a soul to take the King of Hell seriously. What will he do if his Shiki are captured?"

"_What_?"

T-chan dropped the cup and didn't even notice, his shocked eyes fixed on Count D's composed face. His voice was but a gasp, but the Count heard him.

"Indeed, my friend. It is possible. The Shiki are mere pawns in this game, T-chan."

"How-how can I stop that?" Tetsu crowded round the edge of the tea table, still on his knees, unmindful of the shards of porcelain that endangered him.

"H-how can I help him, Count?" he cried and reached pleading hands out to his savior.

"T-chan, T-chan, be calm. I am not saying it is inevitable – only that the Shikigami should be most wary of the King of Hell. He is a dangerous player."

"But, but, _Count!_ He's going back there – he's going back and he'll fight for the Emperor and I can't stop him! _What do I do_!"

Tetsu subsided into a heap before the Count, sobbing breathlessly, his hands clenched into fists of despair.

"What do I do, what do I _do_?" he mumbled over and over in a waffling, miserable outburst entirely unlike his usual 'tough-guy self….till the Count's calm hand came to rest on his horned head, patting it affectionately.

"Worry less, my dear T-chan. He is a most intelligent Tiger, for all that he is most playful at times. He knows the measure of his enemy, I believe."

"And _how_ will _that_ keep him safe, Count?" Tetsu demanded, raising his tear-stained face. "How will _that_ stop the King of Hell from just taking him away from me?"

"He'll merely be imprisoned for a while, T-chan, not destroyed. The King will have to release him when they negotiate, of course, _if_ he's even taken hostage."

"Oh_, jeez_! Like _that'll_ help, Count D! What _you_ do if Leon were held hostage? Would you just sit back and say 'oh well' and figure it'll all work out somehow?"

"T-chan, that's hardly the _same—_"

"Well, _I'm_ not! _I'm_ not gonna just sit around with my thumbs up my ass and _do nothing_!" T-chan exclaimed, climbing to his feet, one shaking hand impatiently scrubbing the remains of the tears from his angry face.

"I'm going with him this time!" he declared, standing tall, "_I'm_ not gonna get left behind! So you'd better find somebody else to nanny the kid, Count D, 'cause I'm not coming back till this friggin' war is over with!"

Count D smiled at the slam of the Parlor door, his expression once again calm and collected. There was a gleam in his unusual eyes that would've given T-chan pause, though, had he stopped to think about _why_ the Count had chosen just _that _particular moment to bring up the subject of the war in Meifu.

T-chan was in his bedroom already, having fairly flown down the hall, a niggling fear that Byakko would already be gone chasing him, driving him faster, faster.

But Byakko was where he should be, once again in the form he took when he was not Tiger, his skin smooth and warm beneath Tet's shaking hand. The Toutetsu bent over, examining the silvered scarring on Byakko's ribcage, the one place where his lover was not absolutely perfect, and winced at it again, tears prickling behind his eyes.

"You're stupid," he murmured, pressing his palm against that hateful spot as though he could make the scars disappear. "I don't know _why_ I love you so much, since you're so _stupid_."

"_Mnn_," the Tiger purred and rolled over, taking Tet's hand with him. He was still sound asleep, though, his breathing steady and slow. Tetsu wrested his hand back reluctantly and shed his clothes, climbing onto the bed and tugging the covers up over their shoulders. The heart-shaped pillow got in his way and he almost tossed it into the corner. Then he reconsidered, smiling to himself, and tucked it under Byakko's head - a good-luck charm for the superstitious, a prayer from his anxious heart.


	4. Chapter 4

**PSOH 'Fallout Boy' 7 & 8**

**VII**

"I don't think so."

"Damn it, Byakko! Would you just _listen_-!"

"Nope. Not a chance, pal."

"Look, idiot, I'm not staying _here_ while you're over _there_, getting sliced to ribbons with no one to watch your back! I'm coming _with_ you, asshole! Get used to it!"

"Uh-uh. No. Negatory, Batman."

"You're not stopping me!"

"Of course I am, Tet. Why would I want to have to worry about you, too? You think I'm stupid?"

"Damn right I think you're stupid! But _don'_t think I'm letting you go back to that hellhole alone this time, moron! I lo-li-_like_ you, asshole! You're my _friend_!"

The Tiger smiled at that, a glow lighting his still weary face.

"Now, that's _nice_, Tet. You should tell me stuff like that more often."

"_Asshole!_ Don't think you can get around me with flattery_ either_! I_ am_ going with you – _that's that_!"

"And there I would have to say you're wrong, Tet, 'cause you're not."

"Damn it, what's _with _you? You'd think you'd be grateful for some _help_!"

"Don't need it, my friend. Doing perfectly well on my own."

"Then why – _why?_ – do you have scars on your body, Byakko? A Guardian is supposed to be untouchable! Tell me _that_, asshole!"

"Come _on_, Tet. These'll be gone by next week. Mere scratches, I assure you. Nothing to worry your horny li'l head about."

"_I worry_!" Tetsu roared and thumped the bed in frustrated anger. "You're so fucking _stupid_ I think I'm gonna _die_ from worrying!"

"Really? Interesting way to show you care, old pal, calling me names and such. Whatever happened to treating war heroes like they were special?" Byakko asked the air around him, a chuckle in his voice. "Shouldn't you be nice to me?"

"Don't just sit there and _laugh_ at me, moron! Take me with you! _Please_!"

"Oh, you're just so sweet to worry like that, but you really don't have to, old buddy. Besides, although I believe I may have mentioned this already, Tet, the answer to your question is still 'no.' N.O. Nope, negative, _nyet_, _nien_, _non_. Ok?"

"_Not_ 'okay'! Why are you so stubborn?"

"Boys, if you wouldn't mind keeping it down, please?" The Count poked his head into Tet's room, frowning.

Tetsu blushed, because they were on the bed together and Byakko was wearing only his pajama top, while he was wearing only the bottoms. It _had_ to look suspicious, no matter how mellow the Count was when it came the Pet's private lives.

"Count D!" Byakko perked up immediately, his tail performing ringlets of joy. He bounced off the bed, like Tigger, and went to greet the Count, apparently unworried about his state of undress.

"_Jeez_!" T-chan muttered and opened his mouth to make amends. But Byakko was already apologizing, his soft red eyes wide and innocent, and it looked like the Count was going to let him get away with being cute.

"Sorry, sorry! Didn't mean to disturb you! We'll keep it down, I promise. It's just Tetsu here, getting all loud and yackety, you know, but I was baiting him and I know I shouldn't, you see, so we're really _very_ sorry and it won't happen again," the Tiger babbled, batting his lashes and flirting prodigiously with the stern Pet Shop owner.

"Indeed," the Count nodded, and then turned to his _major domo_, his brows raised in disapproval.

"Yeah, sorry, Count." Tet took it manfully, knowing it really _was_ his fault. He shouldn't have let loose like that anyway, and certainly not here. The kid was in residence and loud arguments still upset him, even as used to it as he should be by now, what with the Count and Leon going at it all the time.

"That was my doing, sorry. We'll keep it down, ok?"

He didn't like the vibe himself, if it came right down to it. The Shop was his happy home, warm and welcoming, and his relationship with his best friend was just as warm. His bitter anger and nameless fears had tainted him, and spread to his home and his relationship, like acid eating away a flower.

He should just let it go – the Tiger wanted him to, that was clear – but he couldn't bear to watch Byakko leave again and not be certain he would come back. Thatfear undermined Tetsu entirely, as it had for a year now.

"Of course, we'll say no more, T-chan," Count D smiled his pardon and turned to the door. "Goodnight, my dears. Sleep well."

Tetsu heaved a sigh as the door closed, swiveling to face his obstinate, dearly beloved friend, and opened his mouth to apologize to _him_ – but the Count was back again, still smiling.

"It just occurred to me, dear Byakko-san, that I have some salve for wounds such as yours. Perhaps T-chan would help you apply it?"

"T-thank you, Count!" the Tiger replied, spinning back toward the door, surprised himself at the soft-footedness of the Pet Shop owner. He hadn't heard him returning and he had the ears of a cat!

"You're so _kind_," he gushed, fawning.

"Yeah, t-thanks, Count," T-chan said, a half-step behind, taking the small smoked glass vial the Count held out. "That's really nice of you."

"No trouble, I assure you." The Count nodded and smiled some more, showing no signs whatsoever of departing this time.

"Ahem, yes, Count, we'll get to that _right away_," T-chan burst out, after a mile-long pause. "Right, Byakko?"

"Sure, sure and it's that grateful I am to you, Count D," the Tiger grinned, imperceptibly uneasy, for the Count had no good reason to be there still and Tet was on pins-and-needles for some reason.

"Can't begin to tell you how much."

They each took a hesitant step closer toward one another, their eyes meeting in silent agreement at the intrusion and then politely sliding away, for the Count was not be to be offended, and they both understood that.

"I'm glad of your thanks, Byakko-san, but it was indeed no trouble. I suppose my worry is that you are in need of it at all?" The Count's smooth voice froze them in place. Black brows went up in a silent question, drawing an echo from Tet's anxious heart.

T-chan was grateful to the Count – he really was! More so now than ever before.

For he, too, was worried, worried sick, which Byakko had to know by now, after all that fuss. It drummed in his head and twisted his stomach, gave him nightmares and anxiety attacks. No, he was _terrified_, pure and simple, for Byakko would go, as sure as the tide, and then he'd be left behind to wait, not knowing, never knowing, until perhaps it was too late. Meifu was not possible for him without an express invitation – he was shut out by gates that were unsurpassable.

"Well, now, as to that—" the Tiger blushed and fumbled.

"Really, it must be dangerous in your country, Byakko-san, for I have seldom seen a Guardian bearing a wound like that," the Count continued, disregarding the Tiger's faltering attempt at excuses.

"Does your Shinigami Tsuzuki, the Emperor, does he not have allies to call upon?" The question was pointed and Byakko bowed his head in embarrassment, for he was sure Tsuzuki would not even _remember_ to call on all his formidable friends. Even as Emperor the Shinigami did not think that highly of himself.

"Um, I think…not that I would second-guess, of course, but – but I believe he has quite a number of powerful friends at his beck and call, Count D," the Tiger answered, half-hoping that he could imply that those friends had already been summoned.

But, of course, he would not have suffered a physical attack if they had. It was Souryo's duty to advise Tsuzuki of that incontrovertible fact, though, being the eldest. Byakko would hold his tongue until that happened, as was _his_ bounden duty. And Tsuzuki wouldn't notice things weren't going well until it was almost too late.

"I see. Perhaps they have not yet come, then? As you are wounded," the Count smiled, his eyes very perceptive indeed.

"Y-yes, that m-may be, Count. I really do not know, being only a Guardian. I leave that strategic nonsense to those that _do_ know, you see."

"Byakko," Tetsu murmured, his voice quiet and deadly, "you lied to me."

The Toutetsu had been silent all this time, following the back-and-forth between the Count and the Tiger, but now it was clear – quite clear, for the Count had made it so – that Byakko was lying through his smiling mouth, all to protect his Emperor's weakness. It infuriated Tetsu, but he could not yell as was his wont. Yelling did no good.

"Count," he called softly, his voice dropping a suave octave as he grew taller, assuming the form he'd worn when he'd first met the Count – a handsome dark-haired Chinese gentleman of impeccable good taste.

"Count, you have an entrée into Meifu, yes? Allow me to be your envoy, then, I beg you."

"Tet! You mustn't!" gasped the startled Tiger, who hadn't seen his friend look like that very long time.

"I do, Toutetsu, it's true. I am always welcome there, as are my friends." The Count's eyes sparkled as if he were greatly enjoying T-chan's transformation. He put his hand out, unthinking, charmed.

"I take it you wish to make use of that?"

"I do, Count D, if you'll allow me?" The gentleman took the Count's hand in his own, caressing it.

"Tetsu!" Byakko exclaimed in annoyance. "You _ass_!"

"You have not forgotten your original diet, then, Toutetsu?" the Count asked, all aquiver.

"Not at all, Count," smiled the tall Chinese man, his good-looking face smugly secretive. "I plan to make use of _that_, too."

He swept an elegant bow and the Count giggled aloud, while Byakko sputtered, not all pleased with the turn of events.

"Tetsu, you must reconsider! The denizens of Hell aren't going to let you eat them without a fight! This is a war, not a restaurant!"

The Toutetsu turned to his old friend, his pleasant features sobering into cold dislike, a faint anger aglow in his dark, dark eyes.

"You forget, Byakko, that _you_ do not know me well at all. The crunching of bones is not my only weapon, nor the consumption of virgin flesh. I have many other tricks up these sleeves, Guardian, and I long to use them once again, unchecked. You shall not stop me _now_."

"Tet, you _idiot_! Count! _Do _something, for godssake's!"

Fallout Boy

**VIII**

"This does not make me happy, Tet. I want you to know that, so you can't say I didn't tell you later."

"Yes. I am aware."

"I am very, very angry with you right now, Tet. This is stupid, you coming here. You have no right to be here, for that matter. You don't belong."

"I disagree, dear fellow. But then, you already know that."

"Hakushaku is going to be angry; Hisoka and Tatsumi are going to be furious and Souryo will probably just rip your head right off, you damn fool. I hope you're happy with that."

"Most likely."

"And if you dare to get hurt in all this business, Tet, I'm going to rip your head off, too. And pound you and grind your stupid, annoying bones into little tiny bits. Remember that, you damned old fool. I'm mad at you."

"I shall not forget, believe me."

"Very, very angry."

The Imaginary Kingdom hove into view and the Toutetsu tightened his hold on his companion, for it was still a long way down.

…

"Hmm. The Count said it was alright with him, Byakko?" Souryo took a turn around the room, his robes sweeping grandly behind him.

Byakko nodded, deeply chagrined. The Toutetsu at his side stared straight ahead, unabashed, a faint smile on his thin lips.

"Well…hmm. Really, I do not know. The King of Hell will most likely call it foul. Yet the Count agrees with it."

"Who's this? Who's this, Souryo? Oh, Byakko, I didn't see you there – I'm sorry!"

A purple-eyed man bounced into the room, bearing a plate of cake, his features puppy-like in their general enthusiasm. He was followed by a much shorter younger man, cute and on the verge of manhood, with brilliant green eyes.

"Calm down, Tsuzuki! You'll annoy Souryo and he has a guest!" the young man chided and Tsuzuki's face fell immediately.

"Oh! So very sorry! Didn't see you there, either! Cake?"

"Please," the Toutetsu smiled and took the plate, ever a chef at heart. He neatly cut a corner from what appeared to be a lemon ganache cream torte, and popped it into his mouth, chewing with an expression of gourmand delight.

"Delicious, thank you."

"Oh! You think so? That's my current favorite right now, you know. Want some more?"

"So kind," smiled the charming Chinese gentleman and allowed Tsuzuki to feed him another moist morsel.

"_Grrr_!" growled the Tiger, but under his breath.

….

The King of Hell regarded the letter in his hand with mild disbelief. The mild feeling heated quickly to outright anger and it appeared that he might actually dare to rip the missive up, but Hakushaku was able to breathe a sigh of relief when some moments passed and he didn't.

"I see. This is checkmate, gentlemen, at least for the moment. You may cease hostilities at once."

"Sir?"

"My Lord?"

A babble arose form the conference table and the King of Hell had to bang his gavel.

"I said 'at once', gentlemen. Did you not hear me?"

….

"Disappointed? The Count took care of it already, see? You didn't even have to bother to come, asshole. Totally unnecessary."

"I had a chance to meet the Emperor, though. That was pleasant. He is really quite a charmer."

"Shut up! Just 'cause he's like that doesn't mean he's stupid like _you_, Tet! You can put your dirty thoughts right back where they belong – the garbage heap!"

"You appear to be upset. Why is that? The war has ended without another shot."

"You don't know the half of it, asshole! Now it's going to be negotiation time – endless meetings, endless coffee, endless doughnuts and endless chatter that I can't get out of! A war would be simpler, you idiot! And it's all _your_ fault!"

"I apologize, then."

"You don't mean it. I know you don't mean it and I don't even have to look at your stupid face."

"That's a plane, Guardian. You may want to take care."

"Just shut up! I know that, ok? I saw it already!"

…

"Welcome back."

"T-chan, T-chan, you're back! I missed you!"

"Not you again! I thought you were dead! Count! Explain this to me, right this minute!"

"Hey, Tet, glad to see you."

"Good to have you back, Tetsu-san."

"I'm leaving."

"A good journey, I hope."

"Tetsu, where have you been? Causing trouble again?"

"I'm leaving, Tet, right now. Wanna say goodbye like a civilized person?"

"Tet-chan, my friend! We've all arrived home at the same time – what a coincidence!"

"Fine, be that way. I won't see you for a while, so take care, pal."

"I have presents for all of you, my friends! Byakko, what are you doing here? My man – put it there!"

"T-chan, play with me now! We have to play ball like we used to and I have to show you the backpack my Big Bro' bought me! T-chan?"

"Okay, okay, I get it. Nice of you to tell me _now_, D. What, you don't trust me?"

"My apologies, Leon. Do forgive me."

"Well, yeah, but next time—"

"Perhaps you two would like to say your farewells in the other room?"

"Hey, where are you going, T-chan? I wanna play! Byakko, too!"

"How's it hanging, Byakko-chan? Hear you've got a spot of trouble in your neighborhood? Anything I can

do, you just call me."

"Through here. Just so. Take your time, do."

The door shut gently behind them, cutting off the din in the Parlor.

"What?"

"Can you take off that face, please? Half the time I don't even recognize you!"

"Like this?"

"Better. Good. Yeah…so, I'm heading back."

"That's nice. Take care."

"Ah. Like that, are you? Too much trouble to give me a kiss for good luck? You have to sulk about it?"

T-chan's eyes were dark, and colder than the night outside the Pet Shop door. He blinked slowly and smiled like a crocodilian, showing teeth.

"Of course not, Byakko. Whatever makes you think that?"

"Come _on_, stupid! It's not like I _meant_ to hurt your feelings – you're just thin-skinned, you know. Every little thing—"

"Are you leaving, then? Can I see you out?"

"Ass! I'll see myself out!"

The infuriated Tiger turned away, eyes aflame, his hand outstretched for the knob, and then spun back abruptly. He flung himself at T-chan, wrapping his feline warmth around the pillar of salt the Toutetsu had become, and pressed passionate kisses all over Tetsu's blank face. He insinuated hot fingers into Tet's shirt, running them down the flinching chest beneath, his mouth never leaving the parted lips of his lover's, his narrow hips thrusting forward in an ancient siren call. Tetsu moaned and pulled the Tiger closer, blinded by the invasive heat.

"You'll be waiting for me, right? You'd _better_ be, Tet. _You'd better_," the Tiger growled at the end of it, having reduced his reluctant lover to jelly.

Byakko was out the door before Tetsu could call him back, a Siberian by the end of the street, gorgeous in his winter furs. He was gone in the blink of an eye, turning the corner into nowhere, and passers-by shook their respective heads at the unbelievable vision of a Tiger soaring through the moonlit sky, his red eyes fire in the night.


	5. Chapter 5

**PSOH 'Fallout Boy' 9 and 10.1**

**IX**

_You'd better, you'd better, you bet. _

The refrain rang in his head, a constant reminder, like all the other songs he heard in passing that seemed to mean so much right now. They jangled in his brain, the lyrics making him wince, the melodies haunting, heart-breaking, for every song of love lost and broken now seemed to belong solely to him. He owned it, this ill-fated, star-crossed feeling, this constant sense of loss and deprivation. He lived it, and fervently wished all the while that he was still impervious to the vagaries of love. So he hid the heart-shaped pillow under the pile on his bed this time and made it his habit not to look at it. In fact, it nearly went into the back of his closet, along with all the other things that reminded him of the Tiger, but…but—

_You'd better bet your life—_

It was late winter, nearly spring; almost three months had passed with nary a word from Byakko. Well, no, that wasn't true. He'd gotten a card at Christmas with a stupid purple-eyed puppy on it and then a postcard in the middle of February, a gaudy thing that 'wished he was there' with pictures of Bali maidens in leis and hulas holding up multitudes of garish graphic scarlet hearts.

Those two communiqués also resided beneath his pillows, tucked together at the very bottom, and they crinkled in a melancholy way when he went to bed, alone as always.

_Or love will cut you, cut you like a knife—_

He hadn't been to Wyrd since last November, just before he'd travelled to Byakko's land. He didn't dare go there, to be honest, for he knew too many people and they'd all ask questions and questions were the last thing he needed.

It was all the Tiger's fault, this lack of familiar company, this feeling of floating adrift. He hated it and hated _him_ and hated the fact that he'd let the Tiger take his over life.

It made for a nasty temper, something even Chris remarked on, preoccupied as he was by school and friends.

The Count didn't remark on it, but he did make every effort to include T-chan in their 'family' outings. Leon noticed too, in his own awkward way, and teased Tet even more unmercifully than usual. But the detective was kind, for he never brought up Byakko, nor the unexpected reappearance of the Chinese chef, nor even the fact that T-chan was as touchy as a new bruise, his smile entirely extinguished.

No one did, not at the Shop. It was as if Byakko had never been a fixture there, last summer and last fall. Tet wasn't sure if he appreciated that silent concerted effort not to hurt his feelings or not, but so it was. At least no one asked him stupid questions.

"I'm out of here, T-chan. Want to go with?" Pon inquired one afternoon in the beginning of March. It was a day like any other and he'd just brought the kid back from school, walking six blocks to and fro in the blustery afternoon, and he was out of breath and bashing around the kitchen, looking for something warm to drink for him and Chris. He had a different song stuck in his brain today, different lyrics to drive him mad.

"Where?"

"Wyrd, of course. It's March Madness."

"So?"

"So I've got bets on, Tetsu. I have to be there to collect, you know." Pon-chan explained patiently. "You wanna come or not?"

_And they danced, like a wave on the ocean romance…._

T-chan hesitated, his usually clear thought-process a little scattered. There was no reason he couldn't go – the Count was here; the kid would be fine – and no reason he should. But a drink sounded nice, and noise, and warm bodies, all excited over some stupid human game. The stuff of fun, yes.

_Fun_. What was that again? He seemed to vaguely remember the feeling….maybe now was the moment to remember it again? It had been a while – perhaps no one would ask about his old friend, Mr. Disappearing Act. Maybe it was safe to venture back into the swim of things; maybe they'd forgotten that he and the Tiger had been something of an item…..and if he did go, he'd make sure to sit with Pon in a booth, not at the bar. The bar was a bad place to be, these days.

If he did go, there'd be no Tiger there, sliding in with breeze, drinking up his cash.

Tetsu hesitated, his head still poked into a cupboard.

"You gonna make up your mind anytime soon?" Pon-chan asked impatiently. T-chan started and banged his head on the shelf.

"Erm, uh," he vacillated, wincing, rubbing his horns. "Well, I dunno…let me just check with the Count, okay? Somebody's gotta stay with the kid."

"Why? Leon's coming over – he'll be here, Nanny Goat. Chris will be fine."

"He's got math homework—"

"And even _Leon_ can do first grade math, Tetsu. You coming or not?"

_They were liars in love and they danced, swept away by a moment's romance—_

"Uh…no, I'd better not." T-chan turned away, ostensibly looking for the cocoa mix, his face hidden from Pon-chan's sharp eyes.

"But I think you should, T-chan," the Count encouraged, smiling from the kitchen doorway. "And no cocoa now, my dear. You'll ruin his dinner."

_Cuts you like a knife._

"No, no, I'm good, Count D," T-chan assured the canned beans most earnestly. "I've got dinner to make, anyway. So I'd better get started, huh? Sorry, Pon."

"I believe we're going out, T-chan." Returned the Count, urbanely. "Leon has invited us…including the both of you, my dears, if you wish."

"But I've got eggplant parmesan half-made, Count!" T-chan exclaimed, his head in the refrigerator now, his hands nervously ruffling through the heads of lettuce, the broccoli. He refused to look around at all, for the Count's gaze would make him uncomfortable and he was already addled enough, thank you.

"Come on, T-chan. It would do you good to get out. You go with me; let the Count and Leon enjoy their dinner," the raccoon chimed in, coaxing her gloomy friend, her ringlets spilling over her shoulder as she tipped her head.

"And what about the kid, then?" Tetsu's back went ramrod straight as he turned to the stove, plonking down the covered casserole that held the fried eggplant. Some sauce and some noodles and they'd be good to go, him and the kid, and let the rest of them do what they pleased!

"Young Christopher is coming with us, T-chan – it's a family restaurant."

Tetsu shuddered at the thought of crayons and lidded cups, gum under the table and screaming children a booth away. Wyrd was starting to look a lot better, but still….what if?

"I'll buy you a drink, T-chan, if I win," Pon-chan offered and Tetsu was sorely swayed. The raccoon was a miser, hoarding all her money, and this was a rare offer indeed. Usually it was him buying, out of his hard-won poker stash.

He hesitated, casserole in hand, dithering back and forth.

_You are the One – you'll never be alone again—_

_Yeah, right._

"There is some reason you'd prefer to stay home, dear T-chan?" Count D's voice was smooth as oil, but Tetsu jerked at the insinuation of cowardice and abruptly shoved the covered dish back in the fridge. He slammed it shut so hard the whole refrigerator rattled and turned to Pon-chan with a huff.

_Can't steal what's paid for!_

"Let's go then. What're you waiting for?"

They hopped the subway uptown and tried to be relatively inconspicuous, not hard at rush hour. Wyrd was packed to the gills by the time they got there and they only got seats because Pon was friends with Hermes.

The two of them squeezed into a booth with the cohort of Greek gods – Apollo and Athena, two of the Muses and Tethys, with Tetsu on the very outside, nearly falling off.

"So what's up with our learnéd one. Pon-chan? What have those humans taught you in school?" teased the God of Travelers good-naturedly, and all the other ones crowded 'round, curious about such an anomaly. An Ancient taking lessons from the humans? Who had ever heard of such a thing?

"Well, I'm taking Social Anthropology right now—"

"What in Zeus's good name is _that_?" Apollo demanded, settling his gold rimmed glasses more firmly on his Roman nose.

"It's basically where the humans study themselves, as though _they_ were the aliens," Pon answered, and went on to tell her fascinated audience more, ardent pedant that she was. T-chan's attention wandered after the first five minutes – he'd heard it all before, had even dipped into a textbook or two – and right now he didn't care. His eyes scanned the bar, looking for someone he knew, but there was no sign of him…and he didn't expect it, really.

"T-chan! It's been so long!" exclaimed a passing pixie, one he'd had a brief fling with last year.

"Hey, Mallow, good to see you," he answered with enthusiasm and when she beckoned him away, he joined her, bored stiff with academics.

"You alright?" Pon-chan called after him, sharp as a tack, and Tetsu nodded and waved, snagging a beer from a passing waitress and chatting up his old flame, all in one easy motion, just like it used to be.

But he shed the pixie in fifteen minutes, for she wasn't as much fun as she'd been last year – or was it the year before? He couldn't remember, for his senses were all tuned to the scent of one Tiger, the taste and touch of that singular creature, the sound of that one voice among all the others.

Tetsu fetched up at the bar eventually and slid into his regular seat, miraculously empty at just the right moment. He ordered a gimlet and automatically made room for a lady, a stranger who claimed the next stool over like a queen her throne.

She was tall and regal, a gold earring in one ear, with long, kohl-rimmed eyes and a dress that clung. Tet perked up, for here was something more to his taste, and he paid for the drink she ordered with a gentlemanly flourish, taking the opportunity to ask her name.

"Bastet, sir. And you?" The woman's voice was smooth as cream, with a slight foreign accent, but very cultured nonetheless. He could practically see her sleek whiskers, casually brushed back with a well-kept paw.

_To avoid complications, she never kept the same address; in conversation, she spoke just like a baroness._

Ah! Cat goddess, Tet thought, and slid his eyes down her curves in appreciation. He _liked_ Cats.

"Call me T-chan, my queen. I am the Toutetsu, but I never go by that old name anymore."

One Cat in particular, though. Only one.

"No? A pity," the Lady murmured and leaned a little closer, a thigh brushing up against his. "Such an elegant moniker you have, to be sure. Tell me, T-chan, are you waiting for someone?"

"N-no. Why do you think that?"

"Your eyes are on the door, my dear Toutetsu. Generally, most male's eyes are on _me_," Bastet purred, batting her luxuriant lashes with a coy smile.

_-Killer queen, gunpowder, gelatine; dynamite with a laser beam—_

"No! I mean, I'm sorry, Bastet; that was rude of me. I just thought an old friend of mine might show up, but I was mistaken. So, why are you here? Are you a fan of this basketball?"

"No, not really. Quetzacoatl invited me – I'm new in town. Perhaps you could show me around later?" Bastet's cleavage was only inches from his face now and Tet could feel the flush rising. He gulped, nonplussed.

"..Sure, yeah, that'd be great. Excuse me, I just gotta hit the can," Tet said, smiling for all he was worth. He lunged off his stool, abandoning his nearly untouched drink, and promptly lost himself in the crowd.

Two minutes later, he was outside, sucking in the cold evening air to rid his lungs of smoke, alternately castigating himself for letting such a live one slip through his fingers and being damned grateful he'd gotten away. Pon-chan had shooed him off when she'd seen his miserable face, telling him she'd catch a ride with her friends. He was free at last, free to roam wherever he might like.

…Which was back home, to his lonely bed and his Tigerless life. Not for him, those sultry pleasures, those feminine curves. He wanted a hard body under him, with silky skin and eyes of deepest scarlet. He craved a teasing voice, a husky purr that was unashamedly loud in pleasure. He longed for a tail that tickled him when he least expected it, hands as broad and male as his own, clinging to his shoulders, drawing him near. He wanted nothing and none other.

_Why me? Why does this shit _always_ have to happen to me? _

Tet winced in resignation, and turned toward the subway entrance.

_I walk a lonely road – the boulevard of broken dreams. _

The Shop was dark when he arrived at the door. He let himself in, tiptoeing, and headed for the kitchen to straighten up. There were cartons of leftovers on the counter, discarded by Leon, no doubt, who had likely forgotten to put them in the fridge. Tetsu stashed them and poured a glass of cold water to take to his room, for his throat was dry and scratchy and his head was ringing. He'd only had the one beer and a sip of the gimlet, but still….

He felt like he had a hangover; sick at heart, achy and grumpy and sad.

_My shadow's the only one that walks beside me; my shallow heart's the only thing that's beating._

Tetsu poked his head into the kid's bedroom on his way past, disturbing Norman, whose turn it was to guard the door. The big cat growled at him a little and then went back to sleep, reassured, his charge also peacefully in dreamland, surrounded by his stuffed animals. The sight of the kid made T-chan feel better – those little hands; that tangled blonde hair – dear to him like no other, the child he would never have.

There were no sounds issuing from the Count's room as he crept past, soft as a mouse, or any from Ten-chan's suite –the one the Fox Lord shared so happily with young Sakura. The Shop was quiet and still, breathing slowly in the night, and all the nocturnal revelers were careful of their daytime counterparts, safely beyond the endless red lacquer doors. Tetsu would find no raucous company here, at least, no sobering reminders of the life he used to live.

_You blow hot; you blow cold—you're in and you're out—_

Tetsu sighed silently, the sound of the peaceful dark falling softly on his ears, and wished that he, too, had someone to hold in the night, someone whom he could take to his fragile heart and never let go….but there was only one—

Only one. And that one was not _here_.

_Lyrics accredited to Queen, The Who, Shiny Toy Guns, The Ramones, Katy Perry. _

**X.i**

T-chan's own room was dark, so dark he stumbled going in and splashed his water on his jeans. He didn't hit the lights, though, not wanting to lose the uneasy peace his wander through the Shop had brought him. He stripped by the door instead, piling his clothes on the wing-back chair, and stumbled toward his bed with his eyes closed.

His bed was warm…and occupied! A large form reclined there, almost soundless; a big heap of snowy, stripey fur that gleamed now that his eyes had adjusted to the lack of light. Tet wondered how he could have possibly missed Byakko's presence even in the Stygian depths.

"Byakko!" It was a half-laughing, half-tearful greeting, the sound of his heart thundering back to life. He threw himself forward, grabbing at fur that slid into skin beneath his hands, ruffling the ears that shaded into a shock head of white-gold hair.

"_Shhhh_, Tet," laughed the Tiger, hugging him hard in return. "You'll wake them all up and we don't need company right now, do we?"

"_Mnnn_, no. Now, we don't." Tetsu wrapped his arms around Byakko's slighter form, his misty grin invisible in the dark. "Not at all."

"Miss me? Say you did, Tet."

"_Yeah_."

"Make love to me? 'Cause I missed you too, you know."

Manna to his ears, Tet thought, his hands already moving. Byakko was naked as a jaybird, his skin available to touch. Tetsu lost himself in it, licking and sipping and sucking and petting, till the Tiger growled playfully and climbed upon Tet's hips.

"I want you in me. It's been too long," he said quietly – urgently - in Tetsu's ear, the warmth of his breath sending little skitters up Tet's spine.

"Yeah," Tet said, stuck on that one gratified agreement but not knowing how else to say it. He was too damned happy right now to worry about words, too eager for his lover's warmth to care about anything other than what was going to happen next.

"_Please_."

Tetsu shifted himself, cradling Byakko between sweaty thighs, crooning when the Tiger settled eagerly upon him, wincing a heartbeat later in sympathetic pain as Byakko inched down him, grimacing as he was stretched. They both paused, breathing hard, and nuzzled each other wordlessly, their affection overflowing.

Little kisses, little pets, smallest caresses, tiny sighs. They came together like old friends, eons-old lovers, slowly and securely, like the ancient interlocking parts of a ying-yang, till Tetsu thought he'd never been more at ease in this strange cold world and Byakko was purring like a steam-engine, rocking endlessly atop his lover like the little engine that could.

It was heaven, sheer heaven, and Tetsu forgot for the moment that his idyll would end, inevitably. He was awash in a sea of joyful lust and it seemed it could _never_ end.

But there was still the pinch, the nagging uncertainty that crept into his bones when he was sated and sinking into sleep – would his arms hold nothing when he woke up? Would all his contentment be nulled by loss?

And did he dare say anything – anything at all? - to halt this endless cycle of loving and leaving? What would happen if he did? The Tiger was a joker, a player in the nicest way – he'd have no use for a clinging idiot who didn't get it.

But still, it would be so very nice to know…even a hint would better than this cruel mystery. When to expect him – if he should expect him at all? How long to hold on? How many days and hours and minutes must he wait before he could feel this way again?

Tet cleared his throat, for there was some sort of congestion there, and opened his mouth to attempt in some halting and roundabout way to bring up the question that consumed him, but Byakko forestalled him.

"Hungry," moaned the Tiger, turning in Tetsu's arms. He raised a comical face and murmured: "Food?"

"Uh…it's the middle of the night. I can't be waking up the Shop, Byakko—"

"Then take-out or something, Tet. I think I'm going to expire here – you wore me out."

"_I_ did?" 

"_Mnn_…not that I'm complaining, but it takes a lot of _chi_ to keep up with you, you beast!" Byakko ran his hands through Tetsu's damp ringlets, a giggle in his voice.

"_Me?_" Tetsu exclaimed, softly, rather pleased to be called a 'beast' if it meant his lover was happy with him.

"Yes, _you_, love. And now you must feed me, for I was in such a rush to get here that I had no time for dinner and now I absolutely have to stoke up, 'cause I'm _starving_" the Tiger told him, his red eyes contented slits. He nodded knowingly, sharp chin digging into Tetsu's breastbone.

"You see, I don't want to pass out on you just yet, love. We have a lot of catching up to do before morning. I plan to be _busy_."

"R-right," Tet answered, blushing in the dim light, even more pleased. He nodded, uncertain, but willing to do whatever.

"I'll get to work, then." Tet rolled to the side of the bed, settling Byakko carefully before he moved, and fumbled for his robe, his slippers.

"I'll come with—" the Tiger offered, but Tetsu cut him off. He needed a minute, a minute to gloat. The Tiger had clearly said 'love'! It made him all warm and fizzy inside, to be Byakko's 'love'!

"_No_…no. Stay and rest. You must be tired," Tetsu answered firmly, his mind already sorting through recipes that could be made in a hurry, poking at the validity of that four-letter word. "I'll bring it up when it's done, Byakko. Tofu scramble okay for you?"

"_Mnn_, sounds yummy, my sweet. But I am so sorry to trouble you like this."

"No prob. Back in a flash."

Tetsu flew to the kitchen, his legs trembling beneath him, careful to make no noise. He worked insanely fast when he got there, slicing, dicing, nearly chopping his fingers right off.

'Love,' said the Tiger. '_Love_'! And 'no time for dinner' too! Had Byakko been in that much of a rush to see him? Or was Tet just making too much of casual words? Whatever, whatever – it warmed the very cockles of his heart to be called Byakko's 'love', to be the one he hurried to - even if it were only in passing, even if Byakko called everybody that.

T-chan managed to throw together an edible meal despite his inattention, for truly he was a consummate chef. It was a pain in the butt to keep the stuff from clinking on the tray when he tiptoed in a hurry past the occupied bedrooms, but Tet didn't mind. No trouble was too much right now. Maybe later, when Byakko had left, maybe then he'd curse the mess he'd left behind in his normally neat kitchen – and the one who caused it, so casually demanding to be fed at all hours of the night!

But not now. _'Love'!_ grinned the Toutetsu, giddier than a schoolgirl.

"Delicious," the Tiger complimented, around a mouthful. He'd turned on the bedside lamp while Tet had been busy and had snagged his own robe out of the back of Tetsu's closet. He'd found his toothbrush, too , and his hairbrush, Tetsu noted, and felt a twinge of anxiety when he remembered how far back the box had been buried. Would Byakko notice? Would he ask?

"Superb as usual, Tet. You're wasted here – you should have your own restaurant."

"Right. You were just hungry, Byakko, so can the compliments." But Tetsu sported twin spots of color in his cheeks, a sign that he was pleased. "Not necessary."

"Not just hungry – _famished_! But you've made me all better now, love."

"S-so, you here long?" Tet asked when Byakko was nearly done, watching him scrape the plate clean and rest his chopsticks neatly on the edge. He'd nearly forgotten that so important question in the rush of pleasure Byakko's appreciation had given him, but now it struck him, cold and hard like a snowball in a sauna.

"When are you going back to Meifu?"

"Come," beckoned his lover, apparently deaf. Byakko patted the bed beside him meaningfully and moved over, his robe slipping provocatively off one shoulder. Evidently the food had done its job. Tetsu gulped at the expression in those glittering eyes, and rose and stripped without a word, not quite daring to ask again.

Silence like that only meant one thing, anyway. He might have his Tiger till morning…if he was lucky. Certainly Byakko would be gone sooner rather than later, he knew.

He got back in bed, turning the light out as he went, and snuggled into Byakko's warmth, chilled to the bone. It bugged him greatly that he was such a wuss when it came to Byakko, but—

"So, just what did you mean by that, Tet? You wanna know when I'm going when I only just got here?"

A few moments had passed in comforting silence, their bodies entangled, Byakko's head laid on Tetsu's breast. Tetsu had nearly fallen asleep, in fact, lulled by body heat and quiet beat of Byakko's heart, but the Tiger's sudden question brought him wide awake in an instant.

_Uh-oh_. There was an edge in Byakko's voice that Tetsu didn't like one bit.

"Forget it." Tet brushed it off, turning his head to one side, avoiding Byakko's glance when the Tiger looked up.

"It's no big deal."

"Naw, you've got me curious now, Tet. Tell me."

"I said, forget it!"

"Why, Tet? Why d'ya want to know so bad? Did you miss me when I was gone?"

"Just forg—"

"Oh, come on, Tetsu. What are you hiding, huh? Keeping secrets from me now?"

"Shut up!" T-chan made as if to rise, to physically shrug off Byakko's interrogation - but a warm, solid weight placed strategically kept him trapped.

Byakko was atop of T-chan now, in a position reminiscent of their recent lovemaking, but his red eyes were glinting fire, not glazed with passion, and his mouth was pursed in annoyance. He shook his head slowly, his anger evident, and T-chan lowered his own eyes, not wanting to reveal anything more than he had already.

Byakko watched him, a snake trained on a fledgling, and when he finally grinned, it was evil.

"Just exactly how shy are you, Toutetsu?" he asked, his voice steel cloaked in sweet silk, the lilt of his question menacing. "How deeply do you hide your feelings? Do you even have any, under all that muscle?"

"_Nnh_!" Tetsu turned his head sharply, tearing his eyes away from the Tiger's with nearly an audible rip, protesting wordlessly at the intrusion.

"And if I left again this very minute, Tet, would you be sad? Would you say a thing to stop me or would you just let me go?"

Anger welled up in Tetsu at that, a throbbing hot fury, born of too many lonely nights and too many unanswered questions. Tetsu burned with it, seeing red, and he slammed his fist into the mattress and growled in a muffled roar. It took all that he had to get it back under control, to tamp his ire down to simple irritation, to not simply _scream_.

"Look, bud, what _is_ there to say?" he bit out finally, glaring. "You're gonna take off anyway – you always do. What's the point of saying anything when there is no point!"

Byakko smiled sweetly, unfazed by Tetsu's temper tantrum, and patted the Toutetsu's shoulder confidingly. The glitter softened to a warm glow, a banked fire comforting in its heat, and his tone turned coaxing, like one would use with a recalcitrant child.

"Maybe I'd like to hear it, love. Maybe I wanna know what you're thinking." The Tiger leaned in, within kissing distance, red eyes boring down.

"Especially if it's about us, you know?"

Tetsu wanted to hit him.

"I d-don't know what you're talking about, okay? T-this is just something we do—" Tet waved one hand in the air, the vague sweep of his hand indicating their nakedness, their sexual connection.

"_And_? Tell me what we're _doing _here, Tet. Tell me what you_ feel _whenwe do it."

"_No_! Just…._no_. Leave it alone, Byakko. Okay? You've had your fun, so just leave it. It doesn't really matter anyway, does it?"

"It matters to _me_, Tet. You're wrapped so tight sometimes I think you're gonna snap. Look at you, all het up two seconds ago and now you're not even angry."

The Tiger's brows went up and he shrugged, thin naked shoulders rising. Tetsu put his hands on them, unthinking, wanting only to drag Byakko a little closer, a little nearer, for time was running out. He was so tired of being angry when the two of them could be doing so many other things – all of them just as enlivening as this stupid fight – all of them better ways to spend their precious time together.

"You seem so sad, my love. Why is that?"

"I'm fine, I tell you! Totally fine, so drop it, alright? Let's get physical instead," Tet offered, pumping enthusiasm into his voice, sidestepping the question. He slid his palms up and down the Tiger's arms to distract him, and fondled Byakko's pert pink nipples. He even attempted his usual leer, though it wobbled a bit.

"Come on, then. _Kiss me_."

"But I don't _wanna_ drop it, Tet," the Tiger whined. "I'm sick and tired of 'dropping it.' You always avoid this, you know, and I don't know why. It's like you have no idea of what's even going on between us—"

"There's _nothing_ going on between us! I mean – not like _that_!"

"Sure. Right. Whatever you say, pal, but you can't hide forever."

"I'm not hiding! I just wanted to know when you're going to leave! That's a perfectly reasonable question, Byakko! I have things to do – I gotta plan for meals – the kid's got—"

"And you call me a liar, Tet. Shame on you."

"Shut up already! Why do you _always_ have to make this so difficult! You drive me fucking crazy, you know that? I never which way is up or what's going on and _you_ think it's goddamn funny! Well, screw _you_, pal! I've had enough of this—"

"_Whoa_! Whoa, buddy, just calm down—" Byakko petted his suddenly irrational lover, running fingertips through the messy brown-blonde hair, across the frown that creased Tetsu's brow, soothing, gentling – but to no avail. The Toutetsu's ire gathered steam, rising like a thundercloud above their bed.

"Easy now, love."

"_Why should I_?" Tetsu demanded, clenching his hands into fists. "You're fucking _dragging _my heart around everywhere and you don't even _care_ what it does to me! Why should I stop, huh? Tell me that, you two-timing piece of _sh_—!"

"_Tetsu_!" Byakko grabbed his lover's shoulders and shook him a little, jolting Tet into shocked silence for a second.

"I am _not_ two-timing you! Will you get that through your stubborn head? I have not, will not, _ain't gonna_ screw around, idiot! I've got _you_, don't I? Why do you think I need anybody else?"

"_Liar_! Then why do you leave me? Why do you do that? You've got your precious Tsuzuki to run back to, that's why! You don't care about _me_—"

"I _do_ so care about you, Tetsu! Why the hell else would I be here every single chance I get? I can't wait to see you, damn it, and then you act like I'm a player, which I _never_ was—"

"_Yes you __**are**_! I get a fucking pillow and he gets to see you every single day! I get two cards in four whole months and I bet he's _drowning_ in the stuff you give him! I can't even stand to_ think _about what you're giving him! It's not fucking _fair_, Byakko! You _use_ me and _leave_ me and then expect me to fucking _happy_ about

it—!"

"_Idiot_. Now you're just being a baby, Tet. Calm down, okay? Open your damned eyes and look at the facts, for once in your blind, blinkered life, Toutetsu. _It's not like that_."

"It is, _it is_, I know it," Tet moaned and hid his heated face under trembling fingers, shaking his head in funereal gloom, judge and jury all in one.

"_Jeez!_ Now look what you made me do! I _never_ cry!" he wailed, scrubbing away furiously at the tears that seeped from his sparkling brown eyes.

"Tetsu, Tetsu," the Tiger said, his voice a lullaby, coaxing, charming the distraught Toutetsu into looking his way.

"Look here, my silly love. Do you think you could actually listen for once instead of just assuming? You know 'assume' means to make an ass out of you and me. I really don't want you to do that, love. This is too important."

"What's the point?" Tetsu demanded, furiously swiping at the remaining dampness on his angry face. "You're just gonna blow me off again, I know it. It's been a whole year now and that's all you _ever_

do—!"

"You blind _fool_, Tetsu. _Stupid_ fool!" Byakko shook him again, a little harder. "What you _don't_ know would fill a novel, okay? Just shut up for a second, and use your ears instead of that annoying mouth of yours."

"I don't want to hear it," T-chan proclaimed and promptly put his hands over his ears. "You're just gonna lie to me, so why should I listen?"

"Tetsu, love, _please_ _listen_." Byakko straightened up, straddling Tetsu still, his eyes fixed on the unhappy, distrustful ones below him. His long fingers gently tugged T-chan's hands away, holding them securely. His brows beetled and he visibly settled into the seriousness, his quick flash of feline temper already forgotten.

"Now, tell me, if I were to ask you to leave the boy and the Shop and come to Meifu with me, would you go, Tetsu?"

"_W-what_?" Their fingers laced together, clinging, but neither noticed. Tetsu blinked in confusion, his lashes still wet with weak tears.

"Could you leave him? Could you leave _here_?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about, asshole, but I would _never_ leave him! He's only _little_! _He_ needs me, unlike _you_—"

"So you won't go – you _can't_ go with me? You must stay here, no matter what, correct? You have a duty to perform, don't you? Do you think, then, that I can so easily stop being the Guardian of the West? D'you think I can abandon _my_ duty? _My_ Kingdom?"

"_Who's asking you to_!"

"_You_ are, Tet. You ask me every single time I so much as touch you and – _believe me -_ I always want to say 'yes' to you…but I _can't_. I just _can'_t. It's my job, bud, my fate, my _responsibility_. I'm stuck with it, just like you're stuck with little Christopher. I _can't_ leave and you _can't_ leave either, can you? Admit it!"

"_No_! Of _course_ not – what are saying, asshole? And when did I ever _ask _you to?"

"Silly. You ask me all the time - with your gorgeous eyes, love, and your needy, _sexy_ body. Every kiss you give me tells me you want me to stay."

"_Shut_ up! Stop that _right now_! I did not ever_ once_ ask you!"

"No? Then what're your hands doing right now? Aren't you holding onto me?" Tetsu stared at his fingers, which had somehow traveled without his knowledge and were now wrapped vise-like around Byakko's upper arms, and pulled them guiltily away. He would have hid them behind his back if he could have, but Byakko grabbed them and held them fast.

"Like you _never_ want to let me go, Tet. Just like that," the Tiger whispered, his red eyes full of some vibrant emotion that T-chan would not – _would never, ever_ – believe.

"You're hard as a rock, pal, because you want me. You want me _so bad_, you'd do any damn thing I asked you to just make me stay!"

"I'm _not_! I w-wouldn't!"

"Don't lie, Tet. Not to me."


	6. Chapter 6

**PSOH 'Fallout Boy' 9 and 10.1**

**IX**

_You'd better, you'd better, you bet. _

The refrain rang in his head, a constant reminder, like all the other songs he heard in passing that seemed to mean so much right now. They jangled in his brain, the lyrics making him wince, the melodies haunting, heart-breaking, for every song of love lost and broken now seemed to belong solely to him. He owned it, this ill-fated, star-crossed feeling, this constant sense of loss and deprivation. He lived it, and fervently wished all the while that he was still impervious to the vagaries of love. So he hid the heart-shaped pillow under the pile on his bed this time and made it his habit not to look at it. In fact, it nearly went into the back of his closet, along with all the other things that reminded him of the Tiger, but…but—

_You'd better bet your life—_

It was late winter, nearly spring; almost three months had passed with nary a word from Byakko. Well, no, that wasn't true. He'd gotten a card at Christmas with a stupid purple-eyed puppy on it and then a postcard in the middle of February, a gaudy thing that 'wished he was there' with pictures of Bali maidens in leis and hulas holding up multitudes of garish graphic scarlet hearts.

Those two communiqués also resided beneath his pillows, tucked together at the very bottom, and they crinkled in a melancholy way when he went to bed, alone as always.

_Or love will cut you, cut you like a knife—_

He hadn't been to Wyrd since last November, just before he'd travelled to Byakko's land. He didn't dare go there, to be honest, for he knew too many people and they'd all ask questions and questions were the last thing he needed.

It was all the Tiger's fault, this lack of familiar company, this feeling of floating adrift. He hated it and hated _him_ and hated the fact that he'd let the Tiger take his over life.

It made for a nasty temper, something even Chris remarked on, preoccupied as he was by school and friends.

The Count didn't remark on it, but he did make every effort to include T-chan in their 'family' outings. Leon noticed too, in his own awkward way, and teased Tet even more unmercifully than usual. But the detective was kind, for he never brought up Byakko, nor the unexpected reappearance of the Chinese chef, nor even the fact that T-chan was as touchy as a new bruise, his smile entirely extinguished.

No one did, not at the Shop. It was as if Byakko had never been a fixture there, last summer and last fall. Tet wasn't sure if he appreciated that silent concerted effort not to hurt his feelings or not, but so it was. At least no one asked him stupid questions.

"I'm out of here, T-chan. Want to go with?" Pon inquired one afternoon in the beginning of March. It was a day like any other and he'd just brought the kid back from school, walking six blocks to and fro in the blustery afternoon, and he was out of breath and bashing around the kitchen, looking for something warm to drink for him and Chris. He had a different song stuck in his brain today, different lyrics to drive him mad.

"Where?"

"Wyrd, of course. It's March Madness."

"So?"

"So I've got bets on, Tetsu. I have to be there to collect, you know." Pon-chan explained patiently. "You wanna come or not?"

_And they danced, like a wave on the ocean romance…._

T-chan hesitated, his usually clear thought-process a little scattered. There was no reason he couldn't go – the Count was here; the kid would be fine – and no reason he should. But a drink sounded nice, and noise, and warm bodies, all excited over some stupid human game. The stuff of fun, yes.

_Fun_. What was that again? He seemed to vaguely remember the feeling….maybe now was the moment to remember it again? It had been a while – perhaps no one would ask about his old friend, Mr. Disappearing Act. Maybe it was safe to venture back into the swim of things; maybe they'd forgotten that he and the Tiger had been something of an item…..and if he did go, he'd make sure to sit with Pon in a booth, not at the bar. The bar was a bad place to be, these days.

If he did go, there'd be no Tiger there, sliding in with breeze, drinking up his cash.

Tetsu hesitated, his head still poked into a cupboard.

"You gonna make up your mind anytime soon?" Pon-chan asked impatiently. T-chan started and banged his head on the shelf.

"Erm, uh," he vacillated, wincing, rubbing his horns. "Well, I dunno…let me just check with the Count, okay? Somebody's gotta stay with the kid."

"Why? Leon's coming over – he'll be here, Nanny Goat. Chris will be fine."

"He's got math homework—"

"And even _Leon_ can do first grade math, Tetsu. You coming or not?"

_They were liars in love and they danced, swept away by a moment's romance—_

"Uh…no, I'd better not." T-chan turned away, ostensibly looking for the cocoa mix, his face hidden from Pon-chan's sharp eyes.

"But I think you should, T-chan," the Count encouraged, smiling from the kitchen doorway. "And no cocoa now, my dear. You'll ruin his dinner."

_Cuts you like a knife._

"No, no, I'm good, Count D," T-chan assured the canned beans most earnestly. "I've got dinner to make, anyway. So I'd better get started, huh? Sorry, Pon."

"I believe we're going out, T-chan." Returned the Count, urbanely. "Leon has invited us…including the both of you, my dears, if you wish."

"But I've got eggplant parmesan half-made, Count!" T-chan exclaimed, his head in the refrigerator now, his hands nervously ruffling through the heads of lettuce, the broccoli. He refused to look around at all, for the Count's gaze would make him uncomfortable and he was already addled enough, thank you.

"Come on, T-chan. It would do you good to get out. You go with me; let the Count and Leon enjoy their dinner," the raccoon chimed in, coaxing her gloomy friend, her ringlets spilling over her shoulder as she tipped her head.

"And what about the kid, then?" Tetsu's back went ramrod straight as he turned to the stove, plonking down the covered casserole that held the fried eggplant. Some sauce and some noodles and they'd be good to go, him and the kid, and let the rest of them do what they pleased!

"Young Christopher is coming with us, T-chan – it's a family restaurant."

Tetsu shuddered at the thought of crayons and lidded cups, gum under the table and screaming children a booth away. Wyrd was starting to look a lot better, but still….what if?

"I'll buy you a drink, T-chan, if I win," Pon-chan offered and Tetsu was sorely swayed. The raccoon was a miser, hoarding all her money, and this was a rare offer indeed. Usually it was him buying, out of his hard-won poker stash.

He hesitated, casserole in hand, dithering back and forth.

_You are the One – you'll never be alone again—_

_Yeah, right._

"There is some reason you'd prefer to stay home, dear T-chan?" Count D's voice was smooth as oil, but Tetsu jerked at the insinuation of cowardice and abruptly shoved the covered dish back in the fridge. He slammed it shut so hard the whole refrigerator rattled and turned to Pon-chan with a huff.

_Can't steal what's paid for!_

"Let's go then. What're you waiting for?"

They hopped the subway uptown and tried to be relatively inconspicuous, not hard at rush hour. Wyrd was packed to the gills by the time they got there and they only got seats because Pon was friends with Hermes.

The two of them squeezed into a booth with the cohort of Greek gods – Apollo and Athena, two of the Muses and Tethys, with Tetsu on the very outside, nearly falling off.

"So what's up with our learnéd one. Pon-chan? What have those humans taught you in school?" teased the God of Travelers good-naturedly, and all the other ones crowded 'round, curious about such an anomaly. An Ancient taking lessons from the humans? Who had ever heard of such a thing?

"Well, I'm taking Social Anthropology right now—"

"What in Zeus's good name is _that_?" Apollo demanded, settling his gold rimmed glasses more firmly on his Roman nose.

"It's basically where the humans study themselves, as though _they_ were the aliens," Pon answered, and went on to tell her fascinated audience more, ardent pedant that she was. T-chan's attention wandered after the first five minutes – he'd heard it all before, had even dipped into a textbook or two – and right now he didn't care. His eyes scanned the bar, looking for someone he knew, but there was no sign of him…and he didn't expect it, really.

"T-chan! It's been so long!" exclaimed a passing pixie, one he'd had a brief fling with last year.

"Hey, Mallow, good to see you," he answered with enthusiasm and when she beckoned him away, he joined her, bored stiff with academics.

"You alright?" Pon-chan called after him, sharp as a tack, and Tetsu nodded and waved, snagging a beer from a passing waitress and chatting up his old flame, all in one easy motion, just like it used to be.

But he shed the pixie in fifteen minutes, for she wasn't as much fun as she'd been last year – or was it the year before? He couldn't remember, for his senses were all tuned to the scent of one Tiger, the taste and touch of that singular creature, the sound of that one voice among all the others.

Tetsu fetched up at the bar eventually and slid into his regular seat, miraculously empty at just the right moment. He ordered a gimlet and automatically made room for a lady, a stranger who claimed the next stool over like a queen her throne.

She was tall and regal, a gold earring in one ear, with long, kohl-rimmed eyes and a dress that clung. Tet perked up, for here was something more to his taste, and he paid for the drink she ordered with a gentlemanly flourish, taking the opportunity to ask her name.

"Bastet, sir. And you?" The woman's voice was smooth as cream, with a slight foreign accent, but very cultured nonetheless. He could practically see her sleek whiskers, casually brushed back with a well-kept paw.

_To avoid complications, she never kept the same address; in conversation, she spoke just like a baroness._

Ah! Cat goddess, Tet thought, and slid his eyes down her curves in appreciation. He _liked_ Cats.

"Call me T-chan, my queen. I am the Toutetsu, but I never go by that old name anymore."

One Cat in particular, though. Only one.

"No? A pity," the Lady murmured and leaned a little closer, a thigh brushing up against his. "Such an elegant moniker you have, to be sure. Tell me, T-chan, are you waiting for someone?"

"N-no. Why do you think that?"

"Your eyes are on the door, my dear Toutetsu. Generally, most male's eyes are on _me_," Bastet purred, batting her luxuriant lashes with a coy smile.

_-Killer queen, gunpowder, gelatine; dynamite with a laser beam—_

"No! I mean, I'm sorry, Bastet; that was rude of me. I just thought an old friend of mine might show up, but I was mistaken. So, why are you here? Are you a fan of this basketball?"

"No, not really. Quetzacoatl invited me – I'm new in town. Perhaps you could show me around later?" Bastet's cleavage was only inches from his face now and Tet could feel the flush rising. He gulped, nonplussed.

"..Sure, yeah, that'd be great. Excuse me, I just gotta hit the can," Tet said, smiling for all he was worth. He lunged off his stool, abandoning his nearly untouched drink, and promptly lost himself in the crowd.

Two minutes later, he was outside, sucking in the cold evening air to rid his lungs of smoke, alternately castigating himself for letting such a live one slip through his fingers and being damned grateful he'd gotten away. Pon-chan had shooed him off when she'd seen his miserable face, telling him she'd catch a ride with her friends. He was free at last, free to roam wherever he might like.

…Which was back home, to his lonely bed and his Tigerless life. Not for him, those sultry pleasures, those feminine curves. He wanted a hard body under him, with silky skin and eyes of deepest scarlet. He craved a teasing voice, a husky purr that was unashamedly loud in pleasure. He longed for a tail that tickled him when he least expected it, hands as broad and male as his own, clinging to his shoulders, drawing him near. He wanted nothing and none other.

_Why me? Why does this shit _always_ have to happen to me? _

Tet winced in resignation, and turned toward the subway entrance.

_I walk a lonely road – the boulevard of broken dreams. _

The Shop was dark when he arrived at the door. He let himself in, tiptoeing, and headed for the kitchen to straighten up. There were cartons of leftovers on the counter, discarded by Leon, no doubt, who had likely forgotten to put them in the fridge. Tetsu stashed them and poured a glass of cold water to take to his room, for his throat was dry and scratchy and his head was ringing. He'd only had the one beer and a sip of the gimlet, but still….

He felt like he had a hangover; sick at heart, achy and grumpy and sad.

_My shadow's the only one that walks beside me; my shallow heart's the only thing that's beating._

Tetsu poked his head into the kid's bedroom on his way past, disturbing Norman, whose turn it was to guard the door. The big cat growled at him a little and then went back to sleep, reassured, his charge also peacefully in dreamland, surrounded by his stuffed animals. The sight of the kid made T-chan feel better – those little hands; that tangled blonde hair – dear to him like no other, the child he would never have.

There were no sounds issuing from the Count's room as he crept past, soft as a mouse, or any from Ten-chan's suite –the one the Fox Lord shared so happily with young Sakura. The Shop was quiet and still, breathing slowly in the night, and all the nocturnal revelers were careful of their daytime counterparts, safely beyond the endless red lacquer doors. Tetsu would find no raucous company here, at least, no sobering reminders of the life he used to live.

_You blow hot; you blow cold—you're in and you're out—_

Tetsu sighed silently, the sound of the peaceful dark falling softly on his ears, and wished that he, too, had someone to hold in the night, someone whom he could take to his fragile heart and never let go….but there was only one—

Only one. And that one was not _here_.

_Lyrics accredited to Queen, The Who, Shiny Toy Guns, The Ramones, Katy Perry. _

**X.i**

T-chan's own room was dark, so dark he stumbled going in and splashed his water on his jeans. He didn't hit the lights, though, not wanting to lose the uneasy peace his wander through the Shop had brought him. He stripped by the door instead, piling his clothes on the wing-back chair, and stumbled toward his bed with his eyes closed.

His bed was warm…and occupied! A large form reclined there, almost soundless; a big heap of snowy, stripey fur that gleamed now that his eyes had adjusted to the lack of light. Tet wondered how he could have possibly missed Byakko's presence even in the Stygian depths.

"Byakko!" It was a half-laughing, half-tearful greeting, the sound of his heart thundering back to life. He threw himself forward, grabbing at fur that slid into skin beneath his hands, ruffling the ears that shaded into a shock head of white-gold hair.

"_Shhhh_, Tet," laughed the Tiger, hugging him hard in return. "You'll wake them all up and we don't need company right now, do we?"

"_Mnnn_, no. Now, we don't." Tetsu wrapped his arms around Byakko's slighter form, his misty grin invisible in the dark. "Not at all."

"Miss me? Say you did, Tet."

"_Yeah_."

"Make love to me? 'Cause I missed you too, you know."

Manna to his ears, Tet thought, his hands already moving. Byakko was naked as a jaybird, his skin available to touch. Tetsu lost himself in it, licking and sipping and sucking and petting, till the Tiger growled playfully and climbed upon Tet's hips.

"I want you in me. It's been too long," he said quietly – urgently - in Tetsu's ear, the warmth of his breath sending little skitters up Tet's spine.

"Yeah," Tet said, stuck on that one gratified agreement but not knowing how else to say it. He was too damned happy right now to worry about words, too eager for his lover's warmth to care about anything other than what was going to happen next.

"_Please_."

Tetsu shifted himself, cradling Byakko between sweaty thighs, crooning when the Tiger settled eagerly upon him, wincing a heartbeat later in sympathetic pain as Byakko inched down him, grimacing as he was stretched. They both paused, breathing hard, and nuzzled each other wordlessly, their affection overflowing.

Little kisses, little pets, smallest caresses, tiny sighs. They came together like old friends, eons-old lovers, slowly and securely, like the ancient interlocking parts of a ying-yang, till Tetsu thought he'd never been more at ease in this strange cold world and Byakko was purring like a steam-engine, rocking endlessly atop his lover like the little engine that could.

It was heaven, sheer heaven, and Tetsu forgot for the moment that his idyll would end, inevitably. He was awash in a sea of joyful lust and it seemed it could _never_ end.

But there was still the pinch, the nagging uncertainty that crept into his bones when he was sated and sinking into sleep – would his arms hold nothing when he woke up? Would all his contentment be nulled by loss?

And did he dare say anything – anything at all? - to halt this endless cycle of loving and leaving? What would happen if he did? The Tiger was a joker, a player in the nicest way – he'd have no use for a clinging idiot who didn't get it.

But still, it would be so very nice to know…even a hint would better than this cruel mystery. When to expect him – if he should expect him at all? How long to hold on? How many days and hours and minutes must he wait before he could feel this way again?

Tet cleared his throat, for there was some sort of congestion there, and opened his mouth to attempt in some halting and roundabout way to bring up the question that consumed him, but Byakko forestalled him.

"Hungry," moaned the Tiger, turning in Tetsu's arms. He raised a comical face and murmured: "Food?"

"Uh…it's the middle of the night. I can't be waking up the Shop, Byakko—"

"Then take-out or something, Tet. I think I'm going to expire here – you wore me out."

"_I_ did?" 

"_Mnn_…not that I'm complaining, but it takes a lot of _chi_ to keep up with you, you beast!" Byakko ran his hands through Tetsu's damp ringlets, a giggle in his voice.

"_Me?_" Tetsu exclaimed, softly, rather pleased to be called a 'beast' if it meant his lover was happy with him.

"Yes, _you_, love. And now you must feed me, for I was in such a rush to get here that I had no time for dinner and now I absolutely have to stoke up, 'cause I'm _starving_" the Tiger told him, his red eyes contented slits. He nodded knowingly, sharp chin digging into Tetsu's breastbone.

"You see, I don't want to pass out on you just yet, love. We have a lot of catching up to do before morning. I plan to be _busy_."

"R-right," Tet answered, blushing in the dim light, even more pleased. He nodded, uncertain, but willing to do whatever.

"I'll get to work, then." Tet rolled to the side of the bed, settling Byakko carefully before he moved, and fumbled for his robe, his slippers.

"I'll come with—" the Tiger offered, but Tetsu cut him off. He needed a minute, a minute to gloat. The Tiger had clearly said 'love'! It made him all warm and fizzy inside, to be Byakko's 'love'!

"_No_…no. Stay and rest. You must be tired," Tetsu answered firmly, his mind already sorting through recipes that could be made in a hurry, poking at the validity of that four-letter word. "I'll bring it up when it's done, Byakko. Tofu scramble okay for you?"

"_Mnn_, sounds yummy, my sweet. But I am so sorry to trouble you like this."

"No prob. Back in a flash."

Tetsu flew to the kitchen, his legs trembling beneath him, careful to make no noise. He worked insanely fast when he got there, slicing, dicing, nearly chopping his fingers right off.

'Love,' said the Tiger. '_Love_'! And 'no time for dinner' too! Had Byakko been in that much of a rush to see him? Or was Tet just making too much of casual words? Whatever, whatever – it warmed the very cockles of his heart to be called Byakko's 'love', to be the one he hurried to - even if it were only in passing, even if Byakko called everybody that.

T-chan managed to throw together an edible meal despite his inattention, for truly he was a consummate chef. It was a pain in the butt to keep the stuff from clinking on the tray when he tiptoed in a hurry past the occupied bedrooms, but Tet didn't mind. No trouble was too much right now. Maybe later, when Byakko had left, maybe then he'd curse the mess he'd left behind in his normally neat kitchen – and the one who caused it, so casually demanding to be fed at all hours of the night!

But not now. _'Love'!_ grinned the Toutetsu, giddier than a schoolgirl.

"Delicious," the Tiger complimented, around a mouthful. He'd turned on the bedside lamp while Tet had been busy and had snagged his own robe out of the back of Tetsu's closet. He'd found his toothbrush, too , and his hairbrush, Tetsu noted, and felt a twinge of anxiety when he remembered how far back the box had been buried. Would Byakko notice? Would he ask?

"Superb as usual, Tet. You're wasted here – you should have your own restaurant."

"Right. You were just hungry, Byakko, so can the compliments." But Tetsu sported twin spots of color in his cheeks, a sign that he was pleased. "Not necessary."

"Not just hungry – _famished_! But you've made me all better now, love."

"S-so, you here long?" Tet asked when Byakko was nearly done, watching him scrape the plate clean and rest his chopsticks neatly on the edge. He'd nearly forgotten that so important question in the rush of pleasure Byakko's appreciation had given him, but now it struck him, cold and hard like a snowball in a sauna.

"When are you going back to Meifu?"

"Come," beckoned his lover, apparently deaf. Byakko patted the bed beside him meaningfully and moved over, his robe slipping provocatively off one shoulder. Evidently the food had done its job. Tetsu gulped at the expression in those glittering eyes, and rose and stripped without a word, not quite daring to ask again.

Silence like that only meant one thing, anyway. He might have his Tiger till morning…if he was lucky. Certainly Byakko would be gone sooner rather than later, he knew.

He got back in bed, turning the light out as he went, and snuggled into Byakko's warmth, chilled to the bone. It bugged him greatly that he was such a wuss when it came to Byakko, but—

"So, just what did you mean by that, Tet? You wanna know when I'm going when I only just got here?"

A few moments had passed in comforting silence, their bodies entangled, Byakko's head laid on Tetsu's breast. Tetsu had nearly fallen asleep, in fact, lulled by body heat and quiet beat of Byakko's heart, but the Tiger's sudden question brought him wide awake in an instant.

_Uh-oh_. There was an edge in Byakko's voice that Tetsu didn't like one bit.

"Forget it." Tet brushed it off, turning his head to one side, avoiding Byakko's glance when the Tiger looked up.

"It's no big deal."

"Naw, you've got me curious now, Tet. Tell me."

"I said, forget it!"

"Why, Tet? Why d'ya want to know so bad? Did you miss me when I was gone?"

"Just forg—"

"Oh, come on, Tetsu. What are you hiding, huh? Keeping secrets from me now?"

"Shut up!" T-chan made as if to rise, to physically shrug off Byakko's interrogation - but a warm, solid weight placed strategically kept him trapped.

Byakko was atop of T-chan now, in a position reminiscent of their recent lovemaking, but his red eyes were glinting fire, not glazed with passion, and his mouth was pursed in annoyance. He shook his head slowly, his anger evident, and T-chan lowered his own eyes, not wanting to reveal anything more than he had already.

Byakko watched him, a snake trained on a fledgling, and when he finally grinned, it was evil.

"Just exactly how shy are you, Toutetsu?" he asked, his voice steel cloaked in sweet silk, the lilt of his question menacing. "How deeply do you hide your feelings? Do you even have any, under all that muscle?"

"_Nnh_!" Tetsu turned his head sharply, tearing his eyes away from the Tiger's with nearly an audible rip, protesting wordlessly at the intrusion.

"And if I left again this very minute, Tet, would you be sad? Would you say a thing to stop me or would you just let me go?"

Anger welled up in Tetsu at that, a throbbing hot fury, born of too many lonely nights and too many unanswered questions. Tetsu burned with it, seeing red, and he slammed his fist into the mattress and growled in a muffled roar. It took all that he had to get it back under control, to tamp his ire down to simple irritation, to not simply _scream_.

"Look, bud, what _is_ there to say?" he bit out finally, glaring. "You're gonna take off anyway – you always do. What's the point of saying anything when there is no point!"

Byakko smiled sweetly, unfazed by Tetsu's temper tantrum, and patted the Toutetsu's shoulder confidingly. The glitter softened to a warm glow, a banked fire comforting in its heat, and his tone turned coaxing, like one would use with a recalcitrant child.

"Maybe I'd like to hear it, love. Maybe I wanna know what you're thinking." The Tiger leaned in, within kissing distance, red eyes boring down.

"Especially if it's about us, you know?"

Tetsu wanted to hit him.

"I d-don't know what you're talking about, okay? T-this is just something we do—" Tet waved one hand in the air, the vague sweep of his hand indicating their nakedness, their sexual connection.

"_And_? Tell me what we're _doing _here, Tet. Tell me what you_ feel _whenwe do it."

"_No_! Just…._no_. Leave it alone, Byakko. Okay? You've had your fun, so just leave it. It doesn't really matter anyway, does it?"

"It matters to _me_, Tet. You're wrapped so tight sometimes I think you're gonna snap. Look at you, all het up two seconds ago and now you're not even angry."

The Tiger's brows went up and he shrugged, thin naked shoulders rising. Tetsu put his hands on them, unthinking, wanting only to drag Byakko a little closer, a little nearer, for time was running out. He was so tired of being angry when the two of them could be doing so many other things – all of them just as enlivening as this stupid fight – all of them better ways to spend their precious time together.

"You seem so sad, my love. Why is that?"

"I'm fine, I tell you! Totally fine, so drop it, alright? Let's get physical instead," Tet offered, pumping enthusiasm into his voice, sidestepping the question. He slid his palms up and down the Tiger's arms to distract him, and fondled Byakko's pert pink nipples. He even attempted his usual leer, though it wobbled a bit.

"Come on, then. _Kiss me_."

"But I don't _wanna_ drop it, Tet," the Tiger whined. "I'm sick and tired of 'dropping it.' You always avoid this, you know, and I don't know why. It's like you have no idea of what's even going on between us—"

"There's _nothing_ going on between us! I mean – not like _that_!"

"Sure. Right. Whatever you say, pal, but you can't hide forever."

"I'm not hiding! I just wanted to know when you're going to leave! That's a perfectly reasonable question, Byakko! I have things to do – I gotta plan for meals – the kid's got—"

"And you call me a liar, Tet. Shame on you."

"Shut up already! Why do you _always_ have to make this so difficult! You drive me fucking crazy, you know that? I never which way is up or what's going on and _you_ think it's goddamn funny! Well, screw _you_, pal! I've had enough of this—"

"_Whoa_! Whoa, buddy, just calm down—" Byakko petted his suddenly irrational lover, running fingertips through the messy brown-blonde hair, across the frown that creased Tetsu's brow, soothing, gentling – but to no avail. The Toutetsu's ire gathered steam, rising like a thundercloud above their bed.

"Easy now, love."

"_Why should I_?" Tetsu demanded, clenching his hands into fists. "You're fucking _dragging _my heart around everywhere and you don't even _care_ what it does to me! Why should I stop, huh? Tell me that, you two-timing piece of _sh_—!"

"_Tetsu_!" Byakko grabbed his lover's shoulders and shook him a little, jolting Tet into shocked silence for a second.

"I am _not_ two-timing you! Will you get that through your stubborn head? I have not, will not, _ain't gonna_ screw around, idiot! I've got _you_, don't I? Why do you think I need anybody else?"

"_Liar_! Then why do you leave me? Why do you do that? You've got your precious Tsuzuki to run back to, that's why! You don't care about _me_—"

"I _do_ so care about you, Tetsu! Why the hell else would I be here every single chance I get? I can't wait to see you, damn it, and then you act like I'm a player, which I _never_ was—"

"_Yes you __**are**_! I get a fucking pillow and he gets to see you every single day! I get two cards in four whole months and I bet he's _drowning_ in the stuff you give him! I can't even stand to_ think _about what you're giving him! It's not fucking _fair_, Byakko! You _use_ me and _leave_ me and then expect me to fucking _happy_ about

it—!"

"_Idiot_. Now you're just being a baby, Tet. Calm down, okay? Open your damned eyes and look at the facts, for once in your blind, blinkered life, Toutetsu. _It's not like that_."

"It is, _it is_, I know it," Tet moaned and hid his heated face under trembling fingers, shaking his head in funereal gloom, judge and jury all in one.

"_Jeez!_ Now look what you made me do! I _never_ cry!" he wailed, scrubbing away furiously at the tears that seeped from his sparkling brown eyes.

"Tetsu, Tetsu," the Tiger said, his voice a lullaby, coaxing, charming the distraught Toutetsu into looking his way.

"Look here, my silly love. Do you think you could actually listen for once instead of just assuming? You know 'assume' means to make an ass out of you and me. I really don't want you to do that, love. This is too important."

"What's the point?" Tetsu demanded, furiously swiping at the remaining dampness on his angry face. "You're just gonna blow me off again, I know it. It's been a whole year now and that's all you _ever_

do—!"

"You blind _fool_, Tetsu. _Stupid_ fool!" Byakko shook him again, a little harder. "What you _don't_ know would fill a novel, okay? Just shut up for a second, and use your ears instead of that annoying mouth of yours."

"I don't want to hear it," T-chan proclaimed and promptly put his hands over his ears. "You're just gonna lie to me, so why should I listen?"

"Tetsu, love, _please_ _listen_." Byakko straightened up, straddling Tetsu still, his eyes fixed on the unhappy, distrustful ones below him. His long fingers gently tugged T-chan's hands away, holding them securely. His brows beetled and he visibly settled into the seriousness, his quick flash of feline temper already forgotten.

"Now, tell me, if I were to ask you to leave the boy and the Shop and come to Meifu with me, would you go, Tetsu?"

"_W-what_?" Their fingers laced together, clinging, but neither noticed. Tetsu blinked in confusion, his lashes still wet with weak tears.

"Could you leave him? Could you leave _here_?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about, asshole, but I would _never_ leave him! He's only _little_! _He_ needs me, unlike _you_—"

"So you won't go – you _can't_ go with me? You must stay here, no matter what, correct? You have a duty to perform, don't you? Do you think, then, that I can so easily stop being the Guardian of the West? D'you think I can abandon _my_ duty? _My_ Kingdom?"

"_Who's asking you to_!"

"_You_ are, Tet. You ask me every single time I so much as touch you and – _believe me -_ I always want to say 'yes' to you…but I _can't_. I just _can'_t. It's my job, bud, my fate, my _responsibility_. I'm stuck with it, just like you're stuck with little Christopher. I _can't_ leave and you _can't_ leave either, can you? Admit it!"

"_No_! Of _course_ not – what are saying, asshole? And when did I ever _ask _you to?"

"Silly. You ask me all the time - with your gorgeous eyes, love, and your needy, _sexy_ body. Every kiss you give me tells me you want me to stay."

"_Shut_ up! Stop that _right now_! I did not ever_ once_ ask you!"

"No? Then what're your hands doing right now? Aren't you holding onto me?" Tetsu stared at his fingers, which had somehow traveled without his knowledge and were now wrapped vise-like around Byakko's upper arms, and pulled them guiltily away. He would have hid them behind his back if he could have, but Byakko grabbed them and held them fast.

"Like you _never_ want to let me go, Tet. Just like that," the Tiger whispered, his red eyes full of some vibrant emotion that T-chan would not – _would never, ever_ – believe.

"You're hard as a rock, pal, because you want me. You want me _so bad_, you'd do any damn thing I asked you to just make me stay!"

"I'm _not_! I w-wouldn't!"

"Don't lie, Tet. Not to me."


End file.
